Super Sentai vs Super Sentai: Another
by Neo Juste Belmont
Summary: Mass X-Over of Super Sentai, another team's story. Red Mask is thrown to a bizarre world to fight alongside future Sentai warriors. Series: Maskman,Dekaranger,Zyuranger,Kakuranger,Megaranger,Gekiranger,Abaranger.Guest: Boukenger,*NEW*Hurricaneger
1. The Aura Fighters Returns

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

AN: This is the story of another team similar to my Super Sentai vs Super Sentai. Yes, I do have planned this from the very beginning. Otherwise, why would I call it 'Super Sentai vs Super Sentai'? While Takeru from Shinkenger has amassed his own team, another team is being amassed. For what purpose unknown, but we shall uncover in time!

By the way, this fic is going to be very similar in structure, except with different people and scenarios, of course. I hope you enjoy.

Once again, I'll put up another disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING. TOEI OWNS PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING, except this fic.

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PROLOGUE  


* * *

**_Earth has existed and prospered for a very long period. However, it also became a target of various factions that sought conquest. Be they Black Cross, Crime, Egos, Vader Clan, Black Magma, Deathdark, Jashinka, Gear, Gozma, Mess, Tube, Volt, Bouma Tribe, Zone, Vyram, Bandora Gang, Gorma, Youkai, Baranoia, Bowzock, Nejirejia, Balban, Saima Clan, Londerz Family, Org, Jakanja, Evolian, Alienizer, Infershia, Negative Syndicates, Rin Jyuu Ken School and Gen Jyuu Ken School, Gaiark and the latest one, Gedoushuu. However, each of them were thwarted by the task force group called 'Super Sentai'. As time passed, abnormalities between these battles were formed._

_During the battle against Negative Syndicates, a man named AkaRed made his appearance. With the ability to change between the powers of the members of Super Sentai with the color red, he helped the current Sentai team Boukenger as well as a group of past warriors to in battle. While he vanished in the end, there are more than meets the eye from AkaRed._

_AkaRed came from a dimension fueled with the battles of Super Sentai. He has five allies; AoBlue, KuroBlack, KiYellow, MomoPink and MidoGreen; and one mentor figure; ShiroWhite. The team fought against Emperor Rufecil in a long and grueling battle. As more Sentai came victorious, the power of AkaRed and his teammates grow even more and eventually topple Rufecil. However, they were never able to destroy Rufecil completely. As long as there is evil in the hearts of humans, he will be able to return. _

_To counter this, after his encounter with the Boukengers, AkaRed proposed to his teammates to separate the keys to the seal of Rufecil into two pieces and put them inside separate timelines of the Sentai. The timelines were separated in two, the first spans between the timeline of Goranger to Jetman, while the other timeline spans from Zyuranger to any other timelines forward. The seal cannot be found by those from the respective timeline, the reason for this is to make sure that the pieces of Rufecil's seal's key are never found and activated._

_During the war between the Shinkenger and the Gedoushuu, an abnormality enters the world of Sentai. This abnormality is the one they call Kamen Rider Decade. While Decade left the Shinkenger world after his deeds are done, this dimension-hopping action slightly cracks the seal of Rufecil, enough for him to send parts of his power to both separated timelines. With two of Rufecil's essences entering the Super Sentai universe in different timelines and went unnoticed, it is only a matter of time until a chaos in grand scale engulfs both timelines which will decide the fate of the Super Sentai._

_And now… somewhere in the past…_

**

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CHAPTER 1: The Aura Fighter(s) returns  


* * *

**

The Tube Empire has been defeated, and under Princess Mio, it returned to its peaceful roots. Those who defeated the Tube Empire, the Maskmen, returned to their normal lives while the group was officially disbanded, although not the Sugata Racing Team, as it allowed many people to have their jobs that didn't have anything to do with fighting.

Akira the Blue Mask returned to his home village to reunite with his mother, showing how he has matured. At any rate, he was also ready to resume the school years that he skipped in order to become the Maskman and protect the world.

Haruka the Yellow Mask also returned to her ninja village. Her achievements impressed the other ninjas and she was soon heralded as one of the best ninjas in the village.

Kenta the Black Mask answered the call of his old friend from the Sun Racing Team and he rejoined them, although with heavy heart, leaving the Sugata Racing Team, that the Maskmen used to belong. Thankfully, both racing teams eventually ended up as fast allies thanks to his connections.

The only people that remained in the Sugata Racing Team from the Maskman team were the Commander Sanjurou Sugata himself, along with Takeru the Red Mask and Momoko the Pink Mask. The two former Maskmen resumed their place in the Racing Team, Takeru being the main driver while Momoko led the new mechanic team; with Sanjurou managing the team.

A year has passed since the final battle…

* * *

At one day, the Sugata Racing Team was arranged to have a training session with another racing team in order to prepare for a big race event which also involved the Sun Racing Team. Both Takeru and Momoko were inside a small restaurant, eating together to prepare for their latter training.

"Wow, the meat smells good." Takeru noticed at his food as he started cutting it down with his knife, "How did you know about this place?"

"Oh, that. One of my trainees showed me back then." Momoko said, "He's fairly new, so I just know this for a short time." In a sudden, she sighed.

"Er, what's wrong, Momoko?" Takeru asked, looking at her slightly sad face, "You don't look too well."

"Nothing, really! I'm fine…" Momoko answered, but her tone of voice couldn't hide that she did feel sad over something.

"Your voices lie." Takeru noted, "What are you feeling now?"

"All right, I guess I can tell you." Momoko said, looking at the restaurant's scenery on her side. There were several empty spots, including one that could hold five people, "Takeru… it's been like… a year, right?"

"Huh…? Oh…" Takeru also looked at where Momoko was looking. Just then he saw some sort of imagination, the table for five was seated with him and the rest of the Maskmen, eating and sharing jokes together, laughing and spending their good time together. Just then, the imagination shattered, bringing him back to real life where several people eventually took a seat there.

"Ah, right… It's been awhile…" Takeru noted, reminded to his friends, "Everyone is doing okay, I suppose."

"I miss them, really…" Momoko said, her tone suddenly getting sadder and sadder, "I'll admit that our battles as Maskman was a harsh one, but it's also the best… to be with our friends together. And now, we had to separate to our own lives together…"

"Momoko." Takeru stopped her from saying any further by holding her hand which was on the table, "It's all right… You'll learn to let go, eventually…"

"But, Takeru…" Momoko tried to insist, but once again, she was stopped .

"Remember me and Mio?" Takeru said, reminded of his former lover that he had to separate with, due to their conflicting duties, "It was hard for me to forget about our love, but I managed to do it… If I can let go, you can as well, Momoko. Believe me."

"Takeru…" Momoko smiled, glad to hear such encouraging words from Takeru… until her arm suddenly touched the plate which contained her food. It was less hot than usual, "Oh dear! We talked so much that the food might get colder."

"Oh, man… All right, let's eat." Takeru quickly said as eventually both of them started eating. Slowly but surely, the times as a Maskman would soon be left only as a memory…

* * *

The training race went well and Takeru was able to defeat his training opponent. Coming out from his F-1 car, he shook hands with his training opponent and said, "Great match. Let's meet again in the event."

"Yeah. Let's make the event a bang." The training opponent replied, both racers smiling at each other.

In the meantime, Momoko, now the lead mechanic of the team, said to her fellow mechanics, "Everyone, good job! Keep it up for the event later!". Her cheering was responded with a big cheer. It was truly a happy event that probably couldn't go wrong…

But it did.

Just then, another mechanic came onto the racing scene. His body was battered and wounded, but he still dragged his body to meet the two, "Momoko… Takeru…"

"Oh dear…!" Momoko gasped, realizing that it was a mechanic that couldn't make it to the training session. As both she and Takeru approached him, she started talking, "Shugo, are you okay? What's with those wounds? !"

"The Chief… the chief was attacked… He's… hospitalized…" Before Shugo finished talking, he lost consciousness.

"Chief…!" Takeru was worried. What could have happened to his Chief Sugata? Thankfully for him, he saw a card dropped from Shugo's pocket, which contained the hospital's address, "At any rate, let's take him there! Chief must be there!"

* * *

Thankfully for Takeru, his instinct was right. The hospital that was pointed in the card was also the place where Chief Sugata was hospitalized. After sending Shugo to his own room, Takeru and Momoko quickly visited their Chief.

"Chief…" Both called out as Sugata opened his eyes.

"Takeru… Momoko…" He started, "How is Shugo…? And the others?"

"They're all okay." Momoko assured him, although she looked quite sad, as she saw most mechanics hospitalized here.

"Thank goodness." Sugata sighed in relief. But Takeru would not have it.

"Chief, what happened?" He asked desperately, "Why are everyone here? ! Who attacked you? !"

"I don't think you'll believe it… but…" Sugata talked, which soon would surprise both of them, "It would seem that the remnants of Zeba's reign in Tube has begun their move…"

"Remnants? ! Zeba? !" Takeru was shocked hearing the news. The previous, tyrannical Emperor of Tube Empire, responsible of transforming the peaceful empire into a tyrannical one, although thanks to the efforts of Maskman, he was slain and rulership was given back to the rightful heir, Princess Iyal, restoring peace. Yet there were some who still desired Zeba's rule.

"I can't believe it…" Momoko muttered, "So even with Mio's… no, Princess Iyal's rule… there's still some who craves destruction?"

"I do not know…" Sugata answered, "But they're up to something. Takeru… Momoko… I really don't like asking this, but I have no choice… please… investigate these events."

"You shouldn't dislike asking things like that, Chief. We'll do it." Takeru assured him as he prepared to leave, "Let's go, Momoko."

"Wait a minute, Takeru." She stopped him, "Have you forgotten? We're no longer Maskman! The team disbanded, remember?" Takeru suddenly stopped, and thought that it was truly correct. The team has been disbanded.

"Perhaps you are right, Momoko. We're not Maskman anymore." Takeru said in disappointment, but his voice suddenly become determined, "But if we leave this be, what would those remnants do to the innocents? ! Maskman or not, my heart still burns to protect people from evil!"

"Well said, Takeru…" Sugata smiled, looking at Takeru, "Listen, both of you… you're wrong if you think you're no longer Maskman."

"Eh? !" Momoko was shocked hearing it.

"The team may be disbanded, but it doesn't mean your power is gone." Sugata assured them, "Can you still feel the Aura Power within you? You can, right? All those training result didn't vanish just because of disbandment! Have you forgotten?"

In a moment, both Takeru and Momoko closed their eyes, trying to feel something deep inside them. To their surprise, yes, they could still feel their Aura Power. "Yes… yes, I can still feel it, Chief!" Takeru exclaimed, and Momoko also smiled at learning the fact.

"Very good." Sugata smiled at the two's new determination, "For now, you two should go investigate at the latest place of their scheme that I heard… Kawase Shore. I'll try to contact Kenta and the others so they'd join you soon. Don't forget your bracelets. You still kept it, right?"

"Yeah." Takeru nodded, reminded that their bracelets were still kept as a reminder of their fight as Maskman, "Thank you, Chief. We're going. Let's go, Momoko!" With that, both of them left the hospital. However, Sugata's face suddenly turned to worry.

"Be careful… you two… I think these remnants are up to something in a grand scale…"

* * *

The two eventually made it to the Kawase Shore, where the atmosphere was quite empty. "Chief said that they're scheming here…" Momoko muttered, looking around although she found nobody. It didn't take a long time for several familiar faces suddenly greeted them through an ambush… the Ungler soldiers.

"Here they are!" Takeru exclaimed as both of them fought the Ungler soldiers, unmorphed, as they were saving strength for the upcoming grand battle.

The Ungler soldiers never stopped coming. However, eventually Takeru noticed something approaching from behind Momoko. "Watch out!" Without thinking anything else, Takeru shouted and suddenly tackled her to the ground. In process, the 'something' that approached her hit the Ungler soldier that was behind her. It was a ring-shaped beam, which bound the soldier and crushed it until it was destroyed into pieces. "Are you all right?" Takeru asked, not realizing that such forward action caused Momoko to blush.

"Uh… thanks." Momoko replied. However, any possible tender moments were cut off when she looked at the one who did it, "Who're you? !" In a short time, both got up to their feet, greeting the one who tried to attack them.

"I missed." It was a never-seen before Doggler Monster, "As I would expect from the Maskman that destroyed Your Majesty Zeba."

"You didn't answer the question. Who are you? !" Takeru repeated the question.

"I am… Space Doggler!" The monster introduced himself. He was apparently one of the more intelligent monster gifted with the ability to speak, unlike most of the Doggler monsters. A fierce beast with sphere-like shoulder pads, black armor and a circular ring shaped like Saturn's ring located surrounding him. "Maskman… today is the day you die! For His Majesty Zeba's revenge!"

"Oh? Do you really think you can take us on?" Momoko said confidently, "Just because we're disbanded?"

"We'll show you our power. Although we lacked the others…" Takeru said, "We will triumph, and the peace that has been maintained by Princess Iyal to the Tube Kingdom and Earth will be restored!"

"Peace… ha!" Space Doggler cockily said, "Such wannabe ruler does not understand that peace is a foolish thought! Only chaos and evil should be allowed to exist!"

"You will eat your words soon!" Takeru shouted at him, and then turning to Momoko, "Let's do it."

"OK!" She nodded as both of them stood firm, raised their hands with their braces and shouted…

"**AURA MASK!**"

Both then jumped to the sky. Covered with their Aura Power, they transformed into fearsome warriors that protected Earth before… the Maskman!

"Ugh! You can still transform? !" Space Doggler said in shock as both Takeru and Momoko, now under their transformed form landed and introduced themselves.

"Red Mask!"

"Pink Mask!"

Even though they lacked three members, Red Mask proceeded to finish the call.

"Hikari Sentai…"

"**MASKMAN!**"

"Here goes!" With Red Mask commanding, both he and Pink Mask proceeded to fight against the Ungler soldiers and Space Doggler. Even though there was only the two of them, the Maskmen managed to hold their grounds and wiped out a lot of Ungler soldiers.

Eventually, only Space Doggler remained. "You're the last one." Pink Mask said, "Let me finish this then. **Masky Ribbon!**" Afterwards, she unleashed her weapon, the Masky Ribbon.

"Don't underestimate me!" Space Doggler said as his giant ring turned into two circular spiky rings of death on both hands and he threw them to both Maskmen.

"**Masky Blade!**" Red Mask unleashed his signature weapon and both of them gathered their Aura Power. Using that, Pink Mask captured one of the rings with her ribbon and tossed it aside. In the meantime, Red Mask cut the ring in two with his blade.

"Let's do it, then." Red Mask said as he prepared his sword, "**Laser Arrow!**" Covering his sword with energy, he shot the gathered energy towards Space Doggler, damaging it. In turn, Pink Mask leapt and bound the Doggler with her Ribbon, then stabbing him with the ribbon handle.

"Red Mask, now!" She called him as she plugged out the handle. Nodding, Red Mask ran forward and took a leap, his fist ready.

"**Masky Crash!**" Covering his sword with power, eventually Red Mask delivered a cross slash on Space Doggler's body, which caused explosions here and there, knocking him down.

"Looks like that's all there is…" Red Mask concluded, thinking that the Masky Crash attack defeated him. However, just as he said that, the sky turned dark and was mixed with weird colors. Thunders struck the ground as the ground itself rumbled.

"What's this…? !" Pink Mask tried to keep her balance, and fell down to the ground.

"Pink Mask!" Red Mask, still trying to balance himself, tried to help her. However, Space Doggler got up one last time.

"Damn… if I'm going to die… I'll take you with me to hell!" Space Doggler declared as he ran towards Red Mask, his body exploding here and there, intending to take him out with his body explosion.

"Watch out!" Pink Mask yelled, warning Red Mask.

"Damn!" He shouted as he quickly prepared his fist, covered with power, "**GOD HAND!**" With that he punched the Space Doggler, intending to knock him away before he exploded. However, instead, when his fist came in contact with the Doggler's body, it triggered an explosion.

"AAH!" Pink Mask screamed, thinking that she was caught in the blast.

* * *

Moments later, nobody was seen in the shore, with the exception of Momoko alone, untransformed. "Ah… What… happened?" When she regained her consciousness, she looked around, trying to recall what just happened. 'Oh, yes… I was fighting the remnant of Tube with Takeru… wait a minute.' Just then, she realized something. Takeru wasn't around.

"Takeru?" Momoko called out. But there was no response. "Where are you, Takeru?" She called again, and still no answer.

She reached out her bracer and tried calling him from there, "Takeru, where are you? Please answer!" When there's no answer, Momoko started to get desperate. "Takeru!"

She called and called, but there was no response. It suddenly dawned to her that the last act he did was punching a Doggler monster that tried to self destruct. After that, he was not seen again. Which would mean, he could've died in explosion.

"No… it… it's a lie, right…?" Momoko, in despair, fell to her knees. Tears couldn't stop rolling from her eyes as her fears consumed her, thinking that Takeru has fallen in battle, "You can't be dead… Just moments ago, we're together… like friends… and now, Takeru… no… you can't…!"

It was only moments ago that she was having a good time with Takeru. The training for the big event, eating together in leisure like a friend… And in split second, everything was gone in front of her eyes. Takeru was nowhere to be seen, and since the last time she saw her was him withstanding a self destruct attack, big chance that he's slain. All those thoughts were too much for Momoko to bear.

Out of desperation, she looked at the sky, and screamed with all her voice, all while her tears continue to flood her face…

"**TAKERU!**"

* * *

Somewhere else, however, Takeru wasn't dead. He was also on a shore. But there was nobody around. "Momoko!" He tried calling her with his communicator, but there was no response. "How can this be…? !" He cursed at the lack of answer. 'This is like I'm in another world…! Momoko… don't die…' Extremely worried, he started running off.

In a moment, however, he found a book covered in the sands. Picking it up, he started reading its title…

"History of… Super Sentai?"

What has happened to Takeru? Where has he gone, separated from his friends? And what was the purpose of this book he just found?

**

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To be continued…  


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**

Author's note: And yes, I do picked Red Mask on the same purpose because he had the same given name as Shinken Red. There will be much meaning behind this, but we'll find out later. So! At any rate, it's been confirmed that Takeru would be the Red Ranger for this second team. The bad thing is, I'm pretty much set with who's going to be in the team. But you can still go ahead and make a guess who's going to be in.

Also... Poor Momoko. She might not appear for long, but who knows. Maybe she'll return as well. At any rate, constructive criticisms and reviews... bring it on!


	2. The Emergency From The Future Detective

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **I'm back, folks! And here's the second team's story. Wow, it proves... kinda hard, but I hope it does well... Here we go.**  
**

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**PREVIOUSLY ON CHAPTER 1  
**

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_It's been a year after the Maskman force defeated the Tube Empire under Zeba and helped restore it to its peaceful rulership. However, remnants of the Empire remained and attacked Chief Sugata Sanjurou. Realizing that their powers still lie within, both Takeru and Momoko attempted to investigate. However, in the middle of battle, a phenomenon including the sky turning weird and earthquakes occurred, and Takeru found himself whisked into another world… with only the book called 'History of Super Sentai' as his only clue…_

* * *

**CHAPTER 2: The Emergency From The Future Detective  
**

* * *

Slowly opening the book, Takeru read the opening passage of the book as he walked, "A task force that protected Earth ever since the ancient times… Super Sentai…" Upon opening from pages to pages, he started learning about the Super Sentai of history, starting from the Gorangers. On reaching the Maskman's entry, Takeru smiled, happy that his efforts were marked on history. Opening further pages made him realize that the future generation was safe and protected by the future Super Sentai teams that succeeded his.

'Well it's good that the future is bright and protected…' he thought, but a lingering feeling of anguish still struck him, 'I hope Chief and Momoko are okay…'

* * *

While he continued to walk, following the road provided by the shore, Takeru eventually came upon a town. He didn't recognize the town at all, 'What the… where in the world is this? I've never seen a town like this…'

Just then, he noticed a man wearing a long jacket covering his face walking nearby. Takeru decided to call him as he approached the man, "Excuse me, sir. I'd like to ask some question…"

"Yes?" The man turned to him and suddenly revealed his face, an elongated head with dangling fin-like ears with eyes that were rather popped out.

"GAH!" This revelation shocked Takeru that he jumped backwards a bit, "What in the world are you? !"

"Huh? Me? I'm a Goonian." He said, "Never heard of 'aliens', huh?"

"Aliens? !" Takeru couldn't believe his ears. He just met an alien, and he was casually talking to him like nobody's business. 'Oh man, this is like a bad dream…'

"Don't worry, I don't eat humans. Aliens and humans coexisted each other fine here." The Goonian said, looking to the sky again, "Ah… such peace is enjoyable."

'Okay, put it together, Takeru… just treat him like a normal man…' Takeru tried to collect his composure before he asked again, "Okay… Mr… Goonian? If I may ask, do you know where this is?"

"You're not native of this town, are you?" The Goonian asked, "This is Megalopolis."

"M… Megalopolis? !" Takeru was shocked again. He has never heard a town in Japan named as such. However, he quickly took a deep breath, 'Okay, it's a new town I've never been. It's just… that. That's it. Okay, keep cool, keep cool…' Despite being overwhelmed with various new things he didn't know about, Takeru tried to stay collected at all cost.

"Well, since you look really new to this town, you may as well walk around." The Goonian said, "I'd love to give you a tour, but I have a business to do. I hope you're well."

"Will do. Thank you very much, sir!" Takeru bowed in gratitude and smiled, waving his hand as the Goonian left. However, he didn't know that there was a smile formed in its mouth as he left.

* * *

Takeru spent several hours visiting various places. As he had no money, he was unable to purchase anything, let alone food. There were a lot of new things to him and he's had trouble in keeping up with the new information.

Just then, he heard a scream from behind him. "What was that? !" Takeru quickly turned back and ran to the direction of the scream. He then witnessed a man holding another man on the head and a flashing light shone from the man, distracting Takeru to cover his eyes from its blinding light. When the light faded, Takeru witnessed the culprit of the event… which turned out to be a man that looked like him.

"Not this again…" Takeru muttered, cracking his knuckles, being reminded of a Doggler monster that once impersonated him. He then approached his lookalike, "You! What are you doing with that man? !"

"Oh my, I never thought that I'd meet someone who looked like me." The impersonator said, "Unfortunately I have bigger fish to fry. So, I'll leave these Igaroids to you." As he snapped his finger, he summoned several soldiers, clad in silver and black suit, approaching Takeru.

"What are these things? !" Takeru was shocked at the new enemy. However, the impersonator used the chance to flee. "Wait!" Takeru called out, but these Igaroids unleashed their weapons, a medium-sized sword used to cleave things, and they barred Takeru in trying to get to the impersonator. A battle was unavoided.

Having been fighting the Ungler soldiers all the time, Takeru noticed that these Igaroids have similar fighting pattern. With it, he managed to take out the Igaroids one by one, even though they have sturdier body. However, one Igaroid managed to sneak behind him and prepared to attack him.

"Damn!" Takeru uttered as he prepared to block. However, suddenly something blasted the Igaroid's back and it fell to the ground, and stopped moving. "Wha?" Before Takeru could grasp what's going on, more of the Igaroids fell after similar blasts that were hit on their chests. "Is it an assassin?" Takeru wondered as one by one, the Igaroids fell, leaving him alone. He decided to investigate the fallen soldiers, only to find out that they're completely machines.

"Robots?" Takeru muttered, 'Why create something like this…? It's like a criminal empire or something…'

"Hold it right there." A voice rang behind Takeru, and when he looked back, he saw a man in blue-black police suit, pointing a gun to him.

"Ah… were you the ones who shot down these guys?" Takeru asked, but the man did not answer, "Thank you very…" Before Takeru could finish the sentence, the man grabbed his wrists and proceeded to bind them with handcuffs.

"Goonian Jarkjinbars… You are under arrest." The man coldly said, now pointing his gun to Takeru's chest.

"Wait a minute… what's… going on here? !" Takeru's protest fell on deaf ears as the man dragged him away.

* * *

Minutes later, Takeru found himself being interrogated by that man in what would seem to be a high-tech building. "That's why I told you I'm not this Jarkjinbars!"

"You can't lie to me!" The man, who now ended up interrogating Takeru, insisted, "Take a look at this!" He then typed at the table, which reveals a video. In the video, the impersonator was seen holding another woman with his hand on her head and making her vanish using the same light, "This was you, right? Where did you take your victims to? WHERE? !" The man got rather emotional and was angry enough that he was considering raising his fist for a punch on Takeru's face.

"Hey, wait a minute, I've seen that guy doing it…" Takeru commented.

"Still in delusional? You're _unbelievable_." The man suddenly said, slipping out a broken English phrase in process.

'_Unbelievable_? Is this guy a fanatic of the western culture?' Takeru wondered at the man, before speaking again, "I'd like to attest that I'm new here." The man was taken aback at Takeru's new determination, "Now let me ask… when did that happen? You don't just shoot it on purpose, right?"

"Yesterday. It was caught on the surveillance camera" The man answered.

"Well I'll have you know that I just arrived here today!" Takeru answered confidently, "Therefore, I can't be there, doing that crazy stuff! I'm no alien!"

"What did you say…" The man shook his head, at first not wanting to accept the statement, but Takeru's eyes showed complete determination that somehow he knew that it wasn't the eyes of lying people, thus he realized that he made a mistake. "Very well. That was a miss in me. This person I'm targetting just have the similar look to you, and I just got the wrong person to arrest." He admitted, "I'm sorry."

"Well, if you know, that's good." Takeru said, "One more thing, though. My name is not Jarkjinbars. It's Takeru."

"Heh… all right, Takeru. Then it's my turn for introducing myself." The man answered as he released Takeru's handcuffs with his key, "I am Tomasu Hoji of the SPD."

'Hoji?' The name rang a bell in Takeru's mind, which reminded him about the History of Super Sentai book. According to the book, he was one of the Super Sentai warriors, by the team of Dekaranger, fighting the Alienizer crimes and supposedly still continued to fight to this day. Which also reminded him about where the Dekaranger was stationed… the Megalopolis. 'So does this mean I'm thrown to the future?'

"Since you've proven your innocence, you can leave now." Hoji said to him. However, Takeru did not move at all, "What? You're not moving?"

"No, nothing. It's just…" Takeru said, thinking about what happened to the other friends Hoji had, "Something has been bothering me for a bit… You're… alone?"

"That's none of your business." Hoji dismissed him, "I have other things to do. I repeat, you can leave."

Realizing that Hoji had no intention of revealing further, Takeru eventually gave up and left the room… But before he could leave, however, his stomach rumbled. "Ugh… damn…" He muttered in embarrassment.

"At any rate… Takeru, wasn't it?" Suddenly Hoji approached him and handed down several coins to his hands, "There's a cafeteria on the lower floor. Go ahead and eat. My treat."

"Whoa, that's a lifesaver all right!" Takeru said happily, "Thanks a lot!"

"Well… just consider it one of my ways to apologize for accusing the wrong person…" Hoji said, trying to make an excuse before trying to exit the room, "C'mon, I'll lead you there." Takeru soon followed.

* * *

Eventually, after accompanying Takeru in eating and sending him out of the base, Hoji was left in the main office to do most of the paperworks he was assigned to. The Deka Base sure has gotten less lively than last year, where he fought the black market dealer Agent Abrellar. He didn't remember exactly happened, but at one point, when he woke up in the morning, he felt that something was wrong. And when he arrived at the Deka Base… none of his friends were there. Not even Sen, Jasmine, Umeko and Tetsu were there, or even Boss and Swan. Trying to contact his partner Ban and his superiors didn't do at all, there was no response. This brought chaos within the base, especially the younger cadets. At that point, Hoji was confused about being left alone. In the end, he was determined that he'll manage the place until they return, or he found out what happened to them.

The death of Agent Abrellar made his job at least easier to the point that he could do most of the jobs alone, albeit a bit boring, but Hoji was no person to complain about that. When he heard about the Goonian Jarkjinbars appeared, he witnessed the alien making people vanish. Looking at his records of making people vanish, but in actuality, transporting them into another place unknown, and that he's done that to a hundred planets, he was more than determined to stop him, thinking that he might be responsible to the vanishing of his friends.

Just then, when cleaning up most of the paperworks, Hoji noticed something amongst the papers he was working on. Or rather… a book. "History of Super Sentai?" He muttered, opening the book, until he remembered something, "Did that Takeru guy forget to pick it up?" Out of curiosity, however, Hoji started opening the book and reading it.

He realized that there were a lot of predecessors to the Dekarangers, as well as some successors. He noticed the likes of Abarangers and Magirangers, that fought alongside him at one time, were included in the book. When he reached the Maskman section, however, he was surprised… "_Oh My God_." He uttered, in yet another broken English phrase, realizing that the Takeru he met was Red Mask of the Maskman. In other words, he just tried to arrest his senior in protecting Earth as the Super Sentai.

Just then, the base gave out an alarm. Which signified that there's trouble within the town. Shortly after, a video was shown, showing the Takeru imposter.

"Heh… To the S.P.D… I'd like to issue a demand. Never try pursuing me again, or else I will make hundreds of people inside the Shisora Tower vanish forever…"

What followed was a scenery of the Shisora Tower inside the Megalopolis, a tall office building, being surrounded with Igaroids, and its people inside taken hostage. "_God Damn…_" Hoji uttered, again in broken English phrase. Was he conversing with the real deal before? Was it another mistake? Was the book a bunch of lies made by that Alienizer to distract him? There was only one way to find out, and that's for Hoji to jump into the scene of crime.

* * *

Just as Takeru was getting out, he realized something… he lost his book. 'Wait, don't tell me I left it there? ! Damn, and I just walked on quite a distance from that base!' He then ran off, heading back to the Deka Base. However, he stopped for awhile when he looked at a tall building, whereas he saw that imposter of his walking with several Igaroids.

"Heh… if the demands are not met… everyone inside is going to vanish…" The Takeru lookalike said, "This building is now my property. Any funny moves, and I can make it vanish, and go on to another place…" Then, he turned to the Igaroids, "I'm off somewhere else. Guard this place!". The robots nodded and the lookalike left.

"That bastard…!" Takeru cursed, looking at how the imposter used his face to do nefarious things, thus giving him a bad image. Just then, he realized something, "Wait, I think I've got a good idea…"

Shortly after, Takeru boldly walked to the Igaroids. "You all…" He said to them, distorting the voice so it matched his imposter's, in which they suddenly acknowledged due to seeing the face and hearing the voice. Lining up, they awaited Takeru's command.

"Ahem…" Takeru then coughed up to prepare for something, "I'm sick of this place, and this place and those fools aren't worth vanishing! Set them free and tell them to buzz off! I'm off to take some other place as my bargaining chip…"

In a sudden, the Igaroids saluted in agreement and started picking up their communicators. Shortly after, people started running off from the building. 'Wow, I can't believe that worked…!'

"Wait!"

A voice suddenly was heard from behind. It was the imposter… and it caused confusion to the Igaroids, even though most people ignored them all. "You… what are you doing to my soldiers? ! Do you realize what you've done, you imposter!"

"That's my line!" Takeru yelled, "How dare you impersonate my face and make me get arrested for nothing! I swear, you're gonna pay for that…"

"Doesn't matter…!" The imposter then turned to the soldiers, "All of you! Get those fools back into the building!" However, with two men looking alike, it just confused the soldiers. "Ugh, I guess for this occasion there's no need to have any disguises."

With that, in a flash, the imposter revealed his true form… the Goonian that Takeru met shortly before.

"Wait, you… you're that Goonian?" Takeru said in disbelief.

"Indeed… I had hoped that we'd never meet since you'll rot in jail while I do my stint." The Goonian said, "It's as you guessed. I am Jarkjinbars."

"What? !" Takeru said in disbelief, "Were you planning this all along? !"

"Not really… but this is one opportunity I cannot miss." Jarkjinbars said, "To meet someone who looked exactly like my human guise… I could pin the blame on you while I do most of my activities myself. Making people vanish, taking them to other dimensions… I had fun watching it at my TV at home."

"Fun…? ! You bastard…!" Takeru growled, hearing that the alien has quickly revealed himself to be evil to the core, comparable to some Tube generals like Anagamas or their Emperor Zeba, "You endanger innocent people, you tried to frame me from your crimes… UNFORGIVABLE!"

Takeru couldn't take it any longer. He raised his fist and gave out a yell.

"**AURA MASK!**"

In a short time, he transformed into Red Mask. Which surprised Jarkjinbars. "Wha? ! I heard Deka Red has transferred into another planet? !"

"Deka Red? You've got the wrong person. I am…" Red Mask said in a calm anger, "Red Mask!"

"Red Mask?"

"That won't matter once I beat you to pulp!" Red Mask shouted, gathering most of his aura power.

Jarkjinbars only commanded the Igaroids to attack him, but with Red Mask empowered with aura power that took against the Tube Empire, the Igaroids were no match for him, no matter how many. However, Jarkjinbars was able to summon a lot of Igaroids as in an endless supply.

"Ha ha, you may be strong… but I know your strength has a limit." Jarkjinbars laughed triumphantly.

"Shut up… As long as I have my aura power… My energy is limitless!" Red Mask shouted back, hardening his determination and kept on fighting.

"Bah, all talk…" Jarkjinbars said nonchalantly before gesturing, "Next wave, go!"

However, there was no response.

"I said, next wave, go!"

Still no response.

Eventually Jarkjinbars turned back and saw that the next wave has been taken down by Hoji single-handedly.

"Wha? !"

"I've finally got your tail… Jarkjinbars." Hoji said coldly, pointing his sniper rifle to the alien, "No more arresting. You've said why you captured those people... There is no escape this time. You shall face your judgment soon."

"Ugh…! The SPD? !" Jarkjinbars said, shocked.

"Hoji? !" Red Mask was surprised seeing Hoji, but his next act surprised him.

"Red Mask… no, Takeru." Hoji started, "You're just as strong as the book you left behind described..."

"Wha? ! How did you…" Red Mask was shocked, until he remembered about the book again, "So… you were reading that?"

"Yes. And you know who I am, I presume." Hoji said as he held his SP License, "Knowing that, we'll fight together."

"You…!" Jarkjinbars uttered, but Hoji ignored it, as he proceeded to yell…

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER!**"

Once Hoji said it, the SP License send out a signal, signifying the Deka Base to send in the particles which transforms him into a blue-suited warrior. "**FACE ON!**" Once he said it, his head is covered with a blue Sentai-like helmet.

"So you're here…" Red Mask said to the transformed Hoji.

"Pursue mysterious cases… SPD!" He said, before declaring his transformed name, "Deka Blue!"

"Damn it!" Jarkjinbars cursed as he tried to attack Deka Blue, but he was swatted aside with a kick, while Deka Blue quickly ran to attack the Igaroids surrounding Red Mask. They eventually end up surrounded with the Igaroid, with them stand by on their fighting pose.

"Sure you can take'em?" Red Mask asked.

"That's my line. I've been fighting these all these years." Deka Blue answered full of confidence.

"Well, do you see most of them in scraps over there?" Red Mask talked back, "I made them like that alone!"

"Good. Let's make more." As soon as Deka Blue said that, both Sentai warriors started fighting the Igaroids. As Deka Blue has been more open with teamwork ever since last year, he wasn't as awkward when it comes to an initiative, unprepared teamwork. Following his instincts that he learnt from his friends, he managed to keep his balance with Red Mask and wiped out most of the Igaroids.

"Damn! At this rate… This'll do!" Jarkjinbars uttered as he opened his chest armor, which revealed an orb, which started shining in a yellow flash.

"That's it…!" Deka Blue managed to spot the act, and turned to Red Mask, "Roll! Now!"

"Huh?" Red Mask did not understand what it meant.

"JUST DO IT!" Deka Blue insisted, thus Red Mask went ahead to roll sideways, while Deka Blue rolled to the other side. Jarkjinbars then unleashed a yellow beam that went through the Igaroids remaining, the beam was thankfully dodged by both Red Mask and Deka Blue. However, the robots vanished.

"Dang, I missed!" Jarkjinbars cursed when he missed the target.

"What… so this is what you meant 'vanish and taken to other dimension'? !" Red Mask said, witnessing the act with his own eyes. When he imagined it happening to humans, he was utterly angry, "You monster…!"

"Shut up!" Jarkjinbars yelled as he tried to fire another beam.

"Damn, how do we…" Red Mask tried to think of how to handle the beam, but when he saw Deka Blue already taking a sniping position, he was shocked, "What are you doing? !"

"Shut up. Don't break my concentration!" Deka Blue told him off and eventually, Red Mask understood what he meant, even though he was slightly taken aback at his aloofness.

"There is no escape!" Jarkjinbars said, "I'll charge up long enough that the beam will widen… rolling won't save you!"

"Now." Once Deka Blue said the phrase, he pulled the trigger, sending a beam that hit right on the orb at the center of Jarkjinbars' body, interrupting his attack.

"LASER ARROW!" Just to make sure it's destroyed for sure, Red Mask covered his sword with energy and threw the energy to the same spot where Deka Blue shot his rifle, ensuring nothing but the destruction of the orb at the center of Jarkjinbars' body.

"NOOO! My… my… dimensional beam…!" Jarkjinbars said and started bawling like a baby, frustrated that his ultimate weapon has been destroyed. As such, people started appearing here and there. "Dang! Why isn't those mecha available in the market anymore…? !" He cursed, when he tried visiting Earth, he has heard that someone sold him giant machines that could give him a leverage. However, the product seemed to have been sold out or unavailable.

"It looks like everyone's freed from that dimension you speak about." Red Mask said as he witnessed some people having a reunion with their world and their beloved ones that they left.

"My friends would probably amongst them too… But first…" Deka Blue then approached Jarkjinbars, with his SP License in front, "Goonian Jarkjinbars. For making hundreds of civilians from 100 planets vanish and torturing them in dimensions for your own amusement…! JUDGMENT!"

Using the Judgment Time, the Dekaranger was able request the ultimate court to judge whether the Alienizer is guilty or not. For Jarkjinbars' case… he was declared Guilty immediately. "Delete Approved!" Deka Blue said as he prepared his weapon, the D-Sniper "Set! D-Sniper!"

"AAAH! Please spare me!" Jarkjinbars soon knelt, begging for mercy, reducing himself to a bawling coward.

"No pleadings will save you from your crimes." Deka Blue brushed off all his pleads coldly and continued, "Set… Charge! STRIKE OUT!" With that, he shot a very powerful bullet headed to Jarkjinbars, as the bullet obliterated and completely destroyed the Alienizer. 'Well, such things doesn't really require the SWAT Mode to defeat…'

"Wow…" Red Mask was in awe on how Deka Blue finished the enemy. After his age, the Super Sentai has become so advanced with technology more complex than the ones he used to know.

"No big deal." Deka Blue said, putting away his rifle, "With this, case complete!" And shortly after, he started pointing at himself, and said proudly, but with broken English, "_Super Cool. Perfect!_"

"What was that? !" Red Mask was taken aback with Deka Blue's sudden declaration that shows quite the arrogance.

"Nothing, just a reassurance of mine that I've done my job." Deka Blue said as he reached out his communicator. "Boss… it's me. Hoji. Do you read me?"

And there's no answer.

"Boss?" Deka Blue called in again, but there's still no answer.

"Uh… Sen?" He tried calling another of his friend, but there's still no answer, "Jasmine? … Umeko? … Tetsu? … Swan-san?" Frustrated, he called out one last option, "Ban?"

And yet none of them answered.

"_Oh My God…_" Deka Blue uttered in disappointment, "They weren't attacked by Jarkjinbars? Then… where are they? Am I the only Dekaranger remaining?"

"Hm… This sounds familiar…" Red Mask was suddenly reminded with his inability to contact his friends, "Erm… I think I kinda get what's going on…"

"Really?" Deka Blue said, "This might take long, so let's talk about it in the Deka Base."

* * *

Arriving at the main office of Deka Base, Takeru shared his story with Hoji; how he became separated with Momoko and the rest of the Maskman. "I think you're experiencing the same." Takeru concluded, comparing his tale with Hoji's.

"Well indeed, that day when everyone starts vanishing, there was an earthquake." Hoji noted, remembering how he fell to the ground due to the quake, "This story is _unbelievable_…"

"Yeah, it's hard to believe but it happens… and I suppose we have to solve this if we want to reunite with our friends." Takeru said, "I don't think I can do this alone."

"Well, I agree." Hoji nodded at the notion, "This is going to be one big case that… I don't think I can pursue and solve alone. I'll need all the help I can."

"So, what do you say?" Takeru stood up and offered his hand for a handshake, "We're both Super Sentai fighters, so we should stick together for now. Partners?"

"Partners, huh…" Hoji stood up and offered his hand as well as they both shake hands. However, while shaking hands, he declared, "Friends."

"What? !" Takeru was shocked at Hoji's declaration, "I'm not good enough to be your partner? !"

"Don't call me 'partner'." Hoji said aloofly, "I don't declare partners that quick."

"Well, I guess so…" Takeru finally agreed with the deal of being 'just friends'. "But regardless, let's do our best so we can restore things to normal."

"That I agree… friend." Hoji smiled in confidence, "You can stay here for awhile."

"Great. Thank you." Takeru said as he finally had a steady base. He swore that he would solve this mystery around this world. And with another Super Sentai warrior, he might not be doomed to fail after all… But what did the future hold for these two?

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

Author's note: And yes, there's our second member, Hoji from Dekaranger. Sorry for all Jasmine fanboys out there, I do wish I could include her as well since she's also one of my favorites, but... I have other priorities and I have decided my team (which is pretty final). You're free to guess who's going to be in next, though.

By the way, just in case you don't know, if Hoji's words is italicized, that means he's saying it in broken English, like his usual habit. Constructive criticism and reviews are always welcome!


	3. Return of the Dinosaurs and a Heroine

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **And we're back for another chapter, with a probably unexpected entry. Hopefully, this brings enjoyment to you instead of disappointment. Here goes...

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY ON CHAPTER 2  
**

* * *

_Takeru, otherwise known as the Red Mask, seemingly was thrown into the future after a year defeating the Tube Empire. Stranded in a far future, in the town of Megalopolis, he met another Super Sentai warrior, according to the book of 'History of Super Sentai' that he found… Tomasu Hoji, otherwise known as Deka Blue of the Dekarangers. Will Takeru find a way home back to his time?_**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3: Return of the Dinosaurs and a Heroine  
**

* * *

In the year 1993, another great struggle between the forces of good and evil came to a conclusion when the Zyurangers defeated the Witch Bandora and sealed her back to the container that was once used to seal her, and sent it to space. The world was safe as the Zyurangers ascended to the heaven to join their Guardian Beasts.

However, there was one warrior. One warrior who seemed curious with the nature of Earth and after a year of ascension, the warrior's curiosity managed to get the best of the warrior and decided to descend to Earth for awhile. That warrior was the Princess of the Risha tribe, Mei, otherwise known as Ptera Ranger. She has promised the other warriors that she won't be down for so long and would quickly return.

Descended to Earth once more, Mei realized that due to her ascension, her body hasn't aged. Looking at the scenery of the forest she landed, she smiled, 'It's great… Our efforts have not been in vain. Earth has never been so beautiful…'

She then took her time to appreciate the nature before her, strolling around, the forest and playing with some small animals that came to her. She continued to smile and laugh happily, just like how she was millions years ago.

Unfortunately for her, in the middle of playing, the sky turned dark, before turning into a weird color while the ground quaked. "Aah! What's happening? !" Mei shrieked as she fell to the ground, worried on the condition of Earth. However, the quakes didn't stop, until it eventually made Mei lose her balance once more after she tried getting back on her feet, and smashed onto a tree, hard enough to make her lose her consciousness.

"… ei… Mei…"

When Mei woke up, she heard a familiar voice. "That voice… Guardian Beast Pteranodon?" She's been with the Guardian Beast for so long that she could recognize it instantly, "What has happened? What is with the sky? Is Bandora…"

"No it's not…" The sky suddenly showed an image of the Guardian Beast, "But it is something far greater. This Earth is in danger again…"

"Oh no!" Mei was worried hearing it, "I have to contact my friends at once! I'm returning to the Heaven now!"

"You can't, Mei." Pteranodon's words shocked Mei to the core.

"What… what are you saying, Pteranodon?" She asked in such a worry, "Why can't I return to the heaven? Is this… is this because I descended to Earth? Is this my punishment?"

"No… It would seem that you are now in a different world…" Pteranodon explained, "If you try to return to the heaven here, you will find nobody. Not even the Daizyujin or me."

"Where are you, then?" Mei asked again, as she didn't understand what the Guardian Beast meant about the fact that she wouldn't find the Daizyujin or the Guardian Beasts in this heaven, "How can you speak with me?"

"Due to our link, I was able to communicate with you from our heaven…" Pteranodon continued, "At this rate, Mei… you're the only one who can handle this mission."

"Mission?"

"The dinosaurs that you and the Zyurangers protected are in the same world as yours. The forces of evil seemed to have targeted them… You must protect them, or you know what would happen to us all…"

"We'd lose our power…" Mei recalled, "And we won't be able to protect the Earth again."

"And if that happens, you will be stuck on Earth, unable to return to your friends." Pteranodon finished, which shocked Mei. This mission has a lot in stake for her, and she has to accept it, since due to an innocent wish to see how the Earth was doing, she separated herself from the Heavens.

"Very well… I will do it." Mei confirmed, nodding her head with full of determination.

"Everything you need for the mission is prepared… including your weapons… But… I cannot help you…" Pteranodon's voice started to get lower and lower as it eventually faded away.

"Wait! Pteranodon!" Mei tried to call it again, but the Guardian Beast no longer spoke and its image vanished from the sky. However, she realized that her hand was holding something… her Ptera Arrows. "I have to do it… there is no choice…!" With full of determination, Mei ran forward, trying to find clues about the dinosaur that went missing.

* * *

"There!"

"Not bad, but you're gonna have to do better!"

Punches and friendly fight banters were heard throughout the training center of the Deka Base. There, both Takeru and Hoji sparred on a ring. It began when Takeru was using the room to train his Karate skills to make sure his skills did not rust. On witnessing him training, Hoji was interested seeing him fight and offered to spar with him, with Hoji utilizing the boxing style he used in the past. For quite some time, Hoji was able to keep up with Takeru's attacks, but he was also unable to land a direct blow to Takeru.

Eventually, Takeru managed to preserve his strength more and found an opening when he dodged Hoji's straight punch. "Ÿou left this one open!" He exclaimed as he delivered a chop aimed at Hoji's neck, but stopped midway. "Heh, looks like I win."

"As I would expect from the Maskman who excels in martial arts." Hoji complimented as he threw down his fist, defeated, "I didn't train hard enough."

"Well, yeah. Training makes perfect." Takeru said, grabbing the nearby towel and giving it to Hoji, "You've got quite the potential to be a boxer. You'd be a great fighter, if you really want to."

"Heh, thanks, but…" Hoji declined the offer, while wiping his sweats, "I'm a cop, and I've preferred this kind of job. My heart feels more home when I solve crimes." With that, Hoji walked away, "Feel free to explore the building. I still got another job to do."

* * *

Takeru decided to enter the cafeteria to have some tea. After drinking, he was thinking to get back to the training center and meditate to clean his mind, ready for what's going to happen next. 'Maybe after that, I could ask Hoji about where to go next. He might have some clues.'

Just then, he saw Hoji walking through the hallway. "Hey, Hoji!" Takeru called, "Where are you going?"

"Work." Hoji shortly answered.

"Work? Where?" Takeru asked.

"Well… er…" Hoji was a bit hesitant to ask, but he eventually gathered his courage and continued, "There's a disturbance in the nearby forest. I was told that the culprit might not be an Alienizer this time. Well, uh…"

"Is that so." Takeru nodded. He thought that this might be his chance, thus he offered, "I'm coming with you. There may be clues on what's going on with this world, about how we cannot contact our friends. What do you say?"

"I was going to say the same thing." Hoji uttered, "Maybe you'd know something about this new culprit…"

"Well, let's not waste any time, then." Takeru nodded, "We're going."

* * *

Takeru and Hoji eventually made it to the forests, where they kept their watchful eyes of anything suspicious. Takeru was a bit worried that perhaps some of the Tube remnants were still hunting him. That question would soon be answered when he noticed several figures approaching. "What's that?" Takeru tried to get a clear picture of the ones approaching him, but Hoji suddenly grabbed him from behind and dragged him behind the bushes.

"Hide! Don't let them spot us!"

Hiding behind the bushes, Takeru eventually saw the figures approaching. He thought it would be those Ungler Soldiers, but he was wrong. The figures were men in gray colored suit and a weird face, accompanied with oversized hands. Leading them is a creature with three snake heads for its head, similar to the multi-headed Hydra of the mythology. 'What the… not those Tubes… what are those?' Takeru thought in disappointment. The creature was holding a baby dinosaur, but he didn't pay attention to that.

"Hey, Takeru…" Hoji suddenly whispered, "Familiar with those?"

"Beats me." Takeru shrugged, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Well since you don't know, I have no choice…" Hoji whispered back, until he suddenly got up and pointed his gun to the creature, "I do not know your name, but Alienizer… you are under arrest for illegal smuggling of a rare creature."

'Well, that was bold!' Takeru thought as he got up, wasting no words as he stood next to Hoji, ready to defend him.

"Alienizer? The hell is that?" The monster said cockily, "That's not my name. I am Dora Hydra, not some 'Alien' or thing like that!"

'Dora? !' Takeru thought, recalling the word. He remembered that the Dora creatures were minions of the witch Bandora, who terrorized the Earth in the past, but was stopped and sealed by the Super Sentai team of that time, the Zyurangers.

"Whatever you are, smuggling is still illegal!" Hoji stated back, never wavering in pointing his gun, "Put that little dinosaur away."

"You're wasting my time, boy. And I'm not handing this baby to you, I've got other important things to do with him!" The Dora Hydra said that, as he eventually turned to his soldiers, "Golems, get them!"

The soldiers, called 'Golems', suddenly ran towards Takeru and Hoji, attacking them. Without a choice, they started fighting. 'Whatever that 'important thing' is, I just know I've got a bad feeling about it. I can't let that happen!' Takeru thought as he beat down the Golems and even punched one's chest so strongly that the golem fell to the ground, shattered. "Whoops…"

To his shock, however, the golems suddenly reformed its body and rose back on both of its feet, ready to fight again. "What the? !" Takeru was shocked on this revelation. None of the Ungler soldiers were able to execute such feat. When he took down another Golem, it didn't regenerate, but when he took down yet another one, it regenerated.

'What's its weak point? !' Takeru wondered as he also saw Hoji getting into trouble fighting, 'At this rate, we're wasting our energies instead!'

"Heh, they're actually dumb enough to not know the secret…" Dora Hydra said as he suddenly took a seat on the ground, "It'll be an amusing show watching them run out of energy and die…"

"Damn it, at this rate, we have no choice…!" Hoji lamented as he reached out his pocket to unleash his SP License and turn into Deka Blue. Before he could get the license out, however, his line of thought was interrupted when he heard the Dora Hydra screaming.

"AAGH!"

"Huh?" Both Takeru and Hoji was shocked when they learnt that the Dora Hydra was hit with an arrow on his shoulder, the arrow was still sticking out.

'An arrow? Wait a minute… according to the book…' Takeru thought, trying to recall his memory about the book, especially the Zyuranger who fought with archery.

"I've finally found you!" A high-pitched voice of a girl was heard, and when both boys looked, they found out who shot the arrow, as she held the bow on her hand… It's none other than Mei.

'Somehow that face looked familiar…' Hoji thought, recalling when he saw Mei's face. Just then he remembered, 'The book…? Wait a minute, does this mean people from the past are coming here?'

"You? ! That… that garb…!" Dora Hydra was shocked on witnessing Mei's clothing. It would seem that he was quite familiar with the Risha tribe, "Damn it, you're not gonna get me this time!"

"Oh, I will, don't you worry." Mei said, pointing at the baby dinosaur, "You will return that baby dinosaur to me, now!"

"You won't get me or this baby either!" Dora Hydra shouted as he gave commands to the Golem soldiers that attacked Takeru and Hoji, "Forget about those two, this girl's demise is your priority now! Get her!"

In instant, the Golems started ignoring both boys and targeted Mei instead. Fortunately for her, Takeru and Hoji managed to distract them. "Where are you looking at, huh?" Takeru said as he threw one Golem to the ground, "Your opponent is me!" Then, he delivered a straight punch to the Golem at the chest, effectively destroying it without it being able to regenerate. 'Wow, that was lucky'

In the meantime, Hoji was forced to fight using his boxing style again as the enemy has gotten too close for him to use his guns. At first, he's quite frustrated that most of his enemies kept regenerating, 'There has to be a weak point…' Just then, when he looked at how Mei fought, he noticed something. She's usually aiming to the Golem's chests, whether it's using her hand or using her arrow. After taking a short notice, Hoji saw a Golem leaping to him. 'Right, let's give this one a shot…!' He thought as he mustered all his strength to one fist and used that fist to deliver an uppercut aimed to the Golem's chest. It ended up destroying it and it didn't regenerate. When even more Golems ran to his side, before they could get close, Hoji quickly drew his gun and aimed to the same spots, shooting them and obliterated them forever. 'Well, there it is… Perfect.'

"Takeru! Aim for the chest!" Hoji yelled at Takeru, revealing the Golems' weakness.

"Right! Thanks!" As Takeru nodded, he delivered a powerful kick to the Golem's chest… but he missed to the stomach instead. However, it still did not regenerate, "What the hell? !" Takeru protested as Hoji was approaching him.

"Well… okay, make it that if you hit the chest, you're more likely to stop them from regenerating." Hoji said, preparing for another incoming batch, "Still aim for that!"

"OK, sounds good enough for me."

In the meantime, while fighting the Golems that attacked her, Mei witnessed how Takeru and Hoji held on their own. 'They can fight against those Golems on their own? They're strong…' She thought, witnessing both boys handling themselves fine. However, as the Golems were ordered by Dora Hydra to attack her, she's been fighting more Golems than both of them, 'Ugh…! There's too many of them!' She thought, continuing to fight.

However, suddenly several of the golems that attacked her were also kicked from behind. When Mei looked at who did it, it turned out that Takeru was helping her. "You okay, Miss?"

"Ah…" Mei said, but suddenly prepared to shoot, aimed to Takeru.

"Wait a minute, I'm not your enemy!" Takeru protested, but Mei ignored him and shot anyway. Fortunately for him, she was aiming at a Golem that tried to execute a sneak attack at him… "Well…"

"I'm grateful for your help." Mei answered, kindly smiling.

"Uh huh…" Takeru noted and eventually, they resumed the fight against the Golems that approached them.

In the meantime, seeing that the Golems have kept his enemies busy, Dora Hydra tried to escape. 'Damn, I'm not gonna get caught here…!' He thought as he escaped. Suddenly, however, he felt an immense pain on his right leg. Keeling down, he learnt that Hoji shot him on the leg.

"You're not going anywhere, criminal." Hoji said, having taken care of all Golems that attacked him, the only one on his way was just the Dora Hydra, "Maybe you're not an Alienizer, but smuggling is still a heavy crime. You can save your protests for the court."

"Heh… So you're a police or something?" Dora Hydra beckoned, his face not even turning behind to face Hoji, "You're a fool… Do you forget one of the rules? Advantage goes to the one with the hostage!"

"What? !" Hoji was taken aback, remembering that the Dora monster had the baby dinosaur on his hand.

"Yeah, capture me and I'll kill this dino. Maybe my plan would be ruined now, but I've got bigger plans ready in backup!" As the monster said, Hoji was forced to lower his gun, unable to bring himself to shoot the monster.

When Mei looked at how Hoji confronted the Dora monster, her face was filled with shock. 'He's in danger!' She thought as she suddenly ran to him, abandoning Takeru.

"Wait a minute, Miss!" Takeru said as he just punched one final Golem, destroying it. He tried to chase after Mei.

"That's why you're a fool!" Still not turning his body facing Hoji, one of the Dora Hydra's serpent head suddenly turned and suddenly elongated, dashing towards the dumbfounded Hoji.

"WATCH OUT!" Mei suddenly yelled and before Hoji could realize what happened, she pushed him aside and as a result, the snake head bit her on the shoulders. "AAAHH!" She screamed in pain as the snake never let go of the bite, injecting its poison further.

"Oh, what do you know. I got her instead!" Dora Hydra exclaimed when he eventually turned back and noticed that he bit Mei instead, 'What started as a bluff turns out perfectly. Now I can accomplish what she couldn't, killing one of those blasted Zyurangers!'

"HAAH!" In a sudden, Takeru yelled out, delivering a powerful chop to the snake head, cutting it off.

"What the? !" Dora Hydra was shocked at the turn of events, "But that's useless! I can regenerate my head!" With that, as he dragged away the neck of the head that got cut off, suddenly the head re-materialized itself. However, once the deed was done, he stopped a bit and realized something, "I shouldn't be wasting my time here!" He suddenly ran off, but he didn't notice that he dropped a small pill to the ground.

"Wait a minute!" Hoji tried to give chase.

"Hoji! Wait!" Takeru stopped him, "We've got to do something about her!" He then turned to Mei, who was lying down on the ground, "Miss? Are you okay?"

"Ugh… agh…" Mei coughed up, as her body temperature started to dramatically rise, "Am… am I going to…"

"You're not going to die, that I swear!" Takeru tried to encourage her, even though he realized that her body temperature kept rising and rising. He had to keep her spirits up, "Hold on, we'll take you to…"

"No…! It's impossible…" Mei said weakly, "I need… that… pill…"

"Pill?" Takeru asked.

"You mean this?" Hoji said, holding a black shining pill, the same pill dropped by Dora Hydra, "Looks like in panic, he dropped this."

"That's it…! Give it to me…" Mei pleaded, her voice getting weaker and weaker, "Please…"

"All right." Hoji said as he put the pill on Mei's mouth. As she swallowed it, her body temperature did get lower, but she has used too much strength to stay awake and she was asleep.

"Great, she's OK now." Takeru said to Hoji, "What do we do now?"

"The smuggler's chase can wait later." Hoji said, now knowing that there are more important things than completing his missions, such as human's life, "We can't leave her here. Let's take her to the Deka Base." With that, he picked up the unconscious Mei on his back and both he and Takeru walked away.

* * *

Eventually, they managed to arrive at the Deka Base. As they managed to put Mei on a bed, Takeru started discussing on the current matter with Hoji.

"Who is she?" Hoji pondered, "She… looks familiar."

"That book." Takeru noted, still remembering the entry of the History of Super Sentai book, "She's one of the people listed there…"

"Huh? Really?" Hoji asked, "Or maybe you're mistaking her with a lookalike?"

"No, I'm pretty sure." Takeru insisted, "She fits the description as one of those… She fights with a bow."

"That's not a good proof enough!" Hoji bolted back, "Anyone can wear things like that, pick up a bow, and impersonate! Remember that Alienizer that tried impersonating you?"

"Then how are you going to prove her to be the real deal, then?" Takeru challenged him.

"Hm… what else is on her entry?" Hoji asked again.

"Well… they transform with some sort of buckler worn on the belt…" Takeru tried to recall how he read the book, especially on the Zyurangers.

"That's it." Hoji said as he approached Mei's bed and opened her blanket. Unfortunately, her upper clothes were covering her belt area, thus her Dino Buckler wasn't seen by Hoji. Without any other choice, Hoji had his hand approaching Mei's upper cloth on the lower side, trying to uncover her buckler and proved that she really was a Super Sentai warrior.

Unfortunately for Hoji, the moment he even touched Mei's clothes, that was the moment she opened her eyes.

"Well… um…" Hoji tried to reason with what he was doing, but it was too late.

"AAAH! PERVERT!" Mei screamed as she instinctively kicked Hoji away as he was launched to the nearby wall, "What are you going to do to me? !" She asked, covering her clothes, "Are you going to take advantage of me? !"

"N… no, that's not what I meant…" Hoji said, scratching his head, which got smashed to the wall quite hard.

"Miss, it's OK. He didn't mean any harm." Takeru said, "He was just… confused on your identity."

"Identity?" Mei finally calmed down when she realized that Hoji wasn't really thinking of anything bad. Just then, she just realized that her surrounding was very strange to her. She hasn't been in an age so advanced as this, "Wait, where am I?"

"Infirmary of the Deka Base." Hoji answered.

"Deka Base…? What's that?" Mei was confused even more.

"The base of the Earth branch of the S.P.D. Special Police Dekaranger." Hoji said, "I'm… the acting leader for now, Tomasu Hoji. You can call me Hoji."

"And you are…?" Mei then turned to Takeru.

"Takeru. I'm… just staying here for a bit, I guess." Takeru answered the best he could. However, deep down, he wondered something, 'Should I reveal that I'm a Maskman?'

"Ah… is that so." Mei breathed a sigh of relief, "I am Risha Tribe's Princess. My name is Mei. Pleased to meet you."

"Risha… Tribe?" Hoji rolled his eyes, "What is that?" He did read briefly about the book, but the part about the tribes of Zyuranger still confused him.

"It's an ancient clan that lived with the dinosaurs million years ago…" Mei explained. But in a sudden, Hoji cut the conversation off.

"Wait a minute here!" He said adamantly, "Million of years ago? In the age of dinosaurs? You?"

"Uh, yes. I was frozen in time to awaken in the present day to protect the Earth… I think it was at…1992." Mei tried to recall when the time when her last battle with Bandora began, "When I finished my battle, I ascended to heaven… So maybe that explains how my appearance did not change… But in one year and civilizations have advanced so much? I'm really impressed…"

"One year?" Takeru was shocked hearing it. As far as he learnt from the Dekaranger, they finished their battle against Agent Abrellar at 2005, and from what Hoji said, it's been a year after that. And supposedly, Mei ascended to Heaven at 1993, and she said 'one year'… she might've descended at 1994. 'Wait, people from different timelines coming together? Geez, what in the world? It's confusing like hell!'

"Are you joking me?" Hoji was still unconvinced at Mei's explanation, "Humans? Existing with dinosaurs? History has proven that when dinosaurs roamed the lands, humans haven't even existed, not even forming a tribe! Are you trying to pull a prank at me?"

"I'm serious!" Mei insisted, "Perhaps history has forgotten us all, but my tribe's existence are true!"

"What's the chance that you're not a liar who's making this up?" Hoji asked.

"Hoji, that's enough!" Takeru said, stopping the argument, "Look, maybe she has a really questionable past. But it doesn't take away that she's one of the warriors of Super Sentai! She once protected the Earth from evil! Isn't that enough to trust her?"

"Well, okay, that one I can accept…" Hoji said, "But still, to say that what I learned about history was a total lie… That's just ridiculous!"

"I'm sorry if I surprised you…" Mei apologized, before turning to Takeru, "Still, there's one thing that bothered me… Takeru, isn't it?"

"Yes?"

"Did you say 'Super Sentai'?"

"Huh…? Well, that…" Takeru was about to answer, but suddenly the ground quaked, "Not this again!"

"No, this one's different." Mei said, looking at the sky, which was still clear, "The sky…"

Just then, Hoji was looking through another window, and one sight shocked him beyond belief. It was a real Tyrannosaurus Rex, rampaging throughout the city. "_Oh My God…_"

"No way, this is for real? !" Takeru was no less shocked than Hoji, looking at the sight, "A real dinosaur… here? !"

"Looks like it's headed this way too!" Hoji then realized where the dinosaur was going. Just then, he realized something… When his friends vanished, the keys to unlock the Deka Base Robo also vanished, along with the various Deka Machines. 'Damn, at this rate… we're sitting ducks!'

In a short moment, Mei recalled about the Dora Hydra. It seemed that the Dora Hydra was also an ancient enemy to the tribes, the same way as the Dora Guzzler that her ancestor sacrificed her life to defeat. In this case, the Dora Hydra was an enemy that her ancestor defeated without sacrificing her life. However, Mei recalled that Dora Hydra has more than just poisoning with its snake heads, it also has a fearful ability to accelerate aging, which he did to a lot of baby dinosaurs at that time. Realizing that he might be doing the same to the remaining dinosaur, she realized that she had to act quick.

"No!" In a sudden exclamation, Mei ran off on her own.

"Wait a minute, Mei!" Takeru tried to stop her, but Hoji held his shoulder a bit.

"Takeru… you should take her and run from this base." He said, "Shortly after… I'll have everyone this base evacuated."

"Wait, you're so easy to abandon your home? !" Takeru protested as well, "Hoji, you're not feeling any remorse? !"

"It's not like I have a choice!" Hoji insisted, knowing how hard it is to leave the base where he used to work all day. The Deka Base held a lot of dear memories, but he had no choice, "Besides, as long as there are people, we can rebuild the base! Hurry, before that creature gets to this base!"

"… Got it." Takeru nodded as he ran off, leaving Hoji, who also headed off somewhere else.

* * *

'Mei… where did you go…?' Takeru thought, running around the Deka Base despite the quakes. His instincts told him that there's always a chance that she'd be heading to the rooftop. As Zyurangers relate themselves with the dinosaurs, she might be trying to communicate with it. Takeru decided to take that line of thinking and rushed to the rooftops, with what he knew so far with the Deka Base and depending on the direction signs.

As Takeru continued to run, Hoji's voice rang through the communicator of the building.

"All personnel, this is not a joke. A real-life Dinosaur has been spotted to be heading to this very base. The Deka Machines and Deka Base Robo is not going to make it in time to defend this base. That is why… this base must be abandoned. Do not throw your lives away, if a base is wrecked, but the people lived, we can always rebuild it. I will take responsibility of this, in case Boss returned or the higher ups noticed. Now go… and live for another day! Tomasu Hoji, out."

As Hoji closed the communication line, he clenched his fist, regretting that things had to go this way. 'I'm sorry… everyone…!' With that, he ran off, to help the evacuation.

* * *

In the meantime, Mei has indeed ran to the rooftop, where she could have a clear view to the Tyrannosaurus Rex. "Please stop!" She yelled after the dinosaur got near the base. Somewhat, it stopped, "Don't you remember us? We… we protected you" Mei tried to appeal to it, trying to make it remember about how the Zyurangers risked their lives to make the dinosaur born and handled it to the humans' care, "You're supposed to live in peace, not making a rampage. You don't like it, don't you?" As Mei continued, the dinosaur's eye stopped being fierce as it tried looking around, looking at the rampages it created in its wake, "That's good… Please, just put it to rest… I'll find a way so you can live in peace…"

Unfortunately for Mei, shortly after she said that, the dinosaur roared in pain for a short moment, before returning to its fierce eyes. It then opened its mouth, not wanting to listen to anything anymore and it started chomping parts of the Deka Base rooftops. "No! Stop!" Mei pleaded further, but it was no use. Eventually, the dinosaur didn't even care that Mei was on its way and it prepared to eat her.

Thankfully, Takeru made it to the rooftops in time and witnessed the dinosaur nearly eating Mei. "Watch out!" He yelled and jumped, tackling Mei out of the harm's way.

"Takeru!"

"Mei, what are you doing? !" Takeru scolded her, "You could get eaten! Come on, let's get out of here!"

"No! Takeru! I have to stay!" Mei said, "I don't know, but this dinosaur… I know something's wrong with it! I have to find out what's going on!"

"We don't have time for that!" Takeru said as he dragged Mei, once again getting them away from the dinosaur's chomping. Just then he realized that he's quite in a trouble as the dinosaur would chomp on the door where the stairs going down were located. There's only one choice, even though it might sound ridiculous, "We're going to jump."

"Eh? !" Mei was surprised at how forward Takeru was.

"What, afraid of the heights?" Takeru asked, "Well, you're going to have to hold on with it, unless you want to get eaten!"

"I… I'm not afraid of heights!" Mei protested, "It's just that… I'm worried about the dinosaur…"

"I said worry about it later!" Takeru said as he suddenly circled his arm around Mei and gave a tight hug so she wouldn't get away, "Here goes!"

"Wait, Takeru! Wait just a minute…!" Mei's protests were too late as Takeru immediately jumped. While still holding her, Takeru managed to clench one of his fist with his brace equipped and eventually yelled.

"**AURA MASK!**"

With that, Takeru transformed into Red Mask while diving down to the ground. Eventually, thanks to his transformation, his body became much more flexible and he was able to land safely, while still holding Mei. To his surprise, she didn't faint at all, as she has experienced similar leaping experience, even though only in her dreams.

"You OK?" Red Mask asked.

"Takeru?" Mei asked as she witnessed Red Mask de-transforming, "What are you…?"

"Well I'll explain later." Takeru said as he put Mei back to the ground. Thankfully for him, they landed in front of the base's garage. The garage just opened and Hoji was just about to exit with his motorcycle.

"There you are!" Hoji called out, "There's one free car waiting! Hurry and use that to get out of here!"

"Hoji!" Takeru called back, "What about the others?"

"All evacuated!" Hoji confirmed, "Hurry! And take her in as well!"

Takeru nodded, followed by Mei. Thus both of them entered the only remaining police car and drove off, followed by Hoji, moving away from the Deka Base as the dinosaur continued to rampage on the building, destroying it from the outside.

* * *

"Takeru, just then… you transformed." Mei recalled how he turned into Red Mask, "What… are you?"

"Well, uh… that's…" Takeru was still doubting to reveal his identity, but eventually he couldn't hide it anymore, "That's because I'm a Super Sentai warrior."

"Super… Sentai?" Mei then recalled that how she and her friends often calling themselves Sentai.

"Yep, just like you." Takeru's words shocked Mei, shocked that someone knew her identity of being Ptera Ranger, "It's kinda a long story…"

Mei wanted to talk more about it, but looking at the surrounding, she was confused. There were a lot of older people in the roads, "Is it just me or this place… has more older people?"

"Weird, I met several youngsters back then…" Takeru commented.

"Wait, it can't be that…!" As Mei said that, a figure suddenly blocked their way… It was the Dora Hydra. Takeru, Mei and Hoji got off their vehicles and prepared themselves from any incoming attacks.

"Dora Hydra, isn't it?" Hoji started, "You… what are you planning?"

"So! You've witnessed my masterpiece, didn't you?" Dora Hydra boasted, pointing at the dinosaur wrecking the Deka Base.

"What? ! So… you planned this? !" Takeru growled hearing it.

"Heh… I have the ability to accelerate aging. Which is why I needed that baby dinosaur." Dora Hydra said, "Indeed… that dinosaur is the baby dinosaur I took!"

"And do you realize how many lives you endangered? !" Hoji asked back.

"A lot, probably, but who gives a damn!" Dora Hydra bolted back, "Besides… watching those humans scream in terror is quite the delight…!"

"You're just the same as you were before…" Mei uttered, "Cruel, repulsive… You won't get away with this."

"You'll want to kill me, then?" Dora Hydra taunted, "Great! Then do it! Since I linked my soul with the dinosaur, if I die, the dinosaur dies too!" Those words shocked Mei. If she destroyed the Dora Hydra, she would be going against her original mission of saving the dinosaur, pushing them nearer to the inevitable extinction, destroying the power source of the Zyurangers and Daizyujin, as well as cursing her to stay forever in Earth. But if she left the Dora Hydra alive, he would abuse his power further to make more innocent people suffer.

"We'll do it even if you didn't ask that." Takeru, who didn't even understand Mei's plight, stepped forward and looked to Hoji, "Hoji, let's do it!"

"There should still be enough particles for some transformations left." Hoji nodded, reminding himself on how many particles remained in the Deka Base so he could transform, "Very well, let's do it."

"**AURA MASK! RED MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

With it, both of them transformed, armed and ready. They ran to attack the monster, when suddenly, Mei ran and blocked their path from the Dora Hydra.

"Mei, what are you doing? !" Red Mask asked.

"I… I can't let you do this." Mei said, "I can't let that dinosaur die."

"Are you this stupid?" Deka Blue said back, "If you're not moving, I'll seriously hurt you."

"You don't understand!" Mei insisted, "My mission here was to protect that dinosaur… and another one…! I've found one, now I must protect them!"

"Does that dinosaur… hold important values to you?" Red Mask asked.

"Yes. They're the source of my power." Mei explained, "If they extinct, my power will be gone, and I cannot protect this world if a bigger evil rises… That's why I…"

"Get out." Deka Blue coldly said, pointing his gun towards Mei.

"I'm not going to!" Mei insisted.

"Then you leave me no choice." With that, Deka Blue prepared to pull the trigger.

"Wait a sec, Hoji!" Red Mask tried to stop him, but he's too late. A gunshot sound was heard twice . Mei closed her eyes, thinking that her life was at an end. However, she could open her eyes again, and when she did… she was still facing Red Mask and Deka Blue.

"What… happened?" Mei asked.

"Look behind you." Deka Blue said.

When she did, she saw two snake heads dropped to the ground, as they turned out to be two of Dora Hydra's heads, which he used to bite her from behind.

"Damn, and I was so close!" Dora Hydra cursed.

"Mei… you said there are two dinosaurs, right?" Red Mask said, "So, as long as the other one is not dead…"

"Wait a minute…" Mei started to rethink her decision. It was true that if all dinosaurs die, she would lose her power. But for now, this one dinosaur seemed to have lost all hopes to be saved, it's either this dinosaur or many innocent people who would die. If she chose her mission, she would be very selfish and unfit as her title "Warrior of Love", as she would sacrifice many people in place of one dinosaur's life for the purpose of keeping her powers on.

Just then, she recalled the tale of her ancestors defeating Dora Hydra in the past. It was said that the arrows from the Risha Tribe was one of the few weaknesses of Dora Hydra. Usually, when one of its heads got cut off, it would regenerate. However, the pure sacred energy of the Risha Tribe's arrows would prevent it to regenerate.

In short, as of the current, Mei had to do it herself, otherwise more people will suffer.

"I've decided…" She stated, turning to Dora Hydra and put up a determined face, "Today, just like my ancestor and her allies… Dora Hydra! I will defeat you!"

"Hah! So you've forsaken your powers, I see!" Dora Hydra tried to scare her, but Mei did not falter.

"Perhaps… but there are more things than power in life!" Mei stated back, "And as the Warrior of Love from the Risha Tribe… I'll show you what it means!"

Quickly, she grabbed the coin at her belt, pulled it forward and spun one of her arm in one circle, before grabbing the coin and buckler with both hands, pushed it forward, and yelled.

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

With that yell, she transformed into her battle form… "Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Well… I knew it's going to happen soon." Deka Blue commented at the transformation.

"Guys, I'll need a hand for this." Ptera Ranger said, "Please distract him, so I can disable him to be finished."

"Heh. Leave this to us." Red Mask nodded, "Let's go, Hoji!"

"OK!" Deka Blue nodded and both ran forward to attack the Dora Hydra.

"I'm not gonna let you do whatever your plan is!" Dora Hydra said as he raised his hand, summoning several Golems to bar both boys' path.

"Okay…" Ptera Ranger sighed, "I guess we better take care of these guys first…" With that, she also ran forward, shooting arrows to any Golems that come within her sight, reducing the number of Golems that tried to attack Red Mask and Deka Blue. In a short moment, the three Super Sentai warriors were caught in a fight surrounded with the Golems.

"Ugh, at this rate, this is not going good…!" Dora Hydra commented as the fight still continued, and with Red Mask and his friends winning, "Wait, they're gathered together, right? Perfect…"

Suddenly, Dora Hydra opened the mouths of all his heads, and it unleashed a purple breath. "Ah! That…!" Ptera Ranger realized what's going on, the Dora Hydra was unleashing yet another of his fearful abilities, the aging breath, the breath that would accelerate the aging of its victim. "Watch out!" She said as she grabbed both Red Mask and Deka Blue on the back of their necks and jumped away together with the two, getting them away from the aging breath. In the same time, the Golems were affected with the aging breath and rot away as a result.

"Damn! I missed!" Dora Hydra coughed up, his throat dry from his poison breath and he was unable to unleash another poison breath.

"Thanks." Red Mask said to Ptera Ranger before drawing his Masky Blade, "Let's close in and attack!"

"Heh. Just what I'd like to say." Deka Blue said, unleashing his D-Rod and together, they run towards the Dora Hydra to attack.

"I can fight in close range too, you know!" Ptera Ranger didn't want to get left behind and also ran to the Dora Hydra, with her bladed bow to attack the monster at close range.

Despite being attacked at close range, the Dora Hydra still put up a good fight. More especially since they realized that he still had his multiple heads which could poison them, and he'd not be generous enough to share the antidote, nor would he drop it by accident again.

Eventually, the Dora Hydra knocked Red Mask away with a punch. "Now, to finish you slowly!" He said as he elongated one of his heads and tried to bite Red Mask.

"Damn it!" Red Mask instinctively put his Masky Blade in front, incidentally causing the snake to bite the sword instead. Both wrestled the grip for the blade, but it continued on a stalemate for minutes, until Dora Hydra unleashed another head to bite him. Fortunately for Red Mask, yet his instinct prevailed again and he managed to grab the other head with his hand just in the right time before it bit him.

"You're a persistent one are you…!" Dora Hydra said as he wrestled control over his heads, "But you forget that I have one more head…!" With that, he tried attacking Red Mask with his other head. However, before he could reach Red Mask, it was shot down and dropped to ground by Deka Blue, who's quickly running to the scene. "Ah damn!"

"No you don't!" Deka Blue said as he stomped the head which was on the ground, preventing it to be pulled back to the Dora Hydra.

"Ugh! Damn! My… heads…!" Dora Hydra was in pain. There's only one head he couldn't elongate, and that's his main head. As of now, he's completely stuck.

"Guys, keep at that!" Ptera Ranger said as she prepared her bow, "With this arrow from my tribe, he won't be able to regenerate his head again!"

"All right, then!" Deka Blue said as he hardened the stomp on one of Dora Hydra's head, while Red Mask suddenly dropped his sword and quickly grabbed the head that bit the sword, practically immobilizing it, while Ptera Ranger pulled her bow, preparing to shoot.

"No! Not that!" Dora Hydra said fearfully as he knew this would mean that the arrows would prevent him from regenerating.

"Too late to say that!" With that, Ptera Ranger shot two arrows, one was aimed to the neck of the head stomped by Deka Blue, while the other one was aimed at the necks of the two heads held by Red Mask. All the arrow pierced through the necks, cutting it off and they were unable to grow back again.

"No! My… my head…!" Dora Hydra screamed in pain, pulling his necks back and frightened that they couldn't regenerate again. Red Mask and Deka Blue also shot him down with their respective guns for good measure.

"I did it!" Ptera Ranger said happily, but she knew her job wasn't done. However, something bothered her, 'But how do I defeat it without Howling Cannon?'

"Mei." Red Mask approached her, along with Deka Blue, "That was a powerful shot. Combined with our attacks, we may be able to take it out."

"You sure you'll finish it off?" Deka Blue asked one more time, "Remember, this will be going against your original mission."

"I am prepared of the consequences." Ptera Ranger said, "Above all, he terrorized humans for his own amusement. My mission would be a failure as well if I leave someone like him and those behind him unpunished!"

"Y… you can't do that…!" Dora Hydra pleaded, trying to appeal for her again, but it was no use.

"Very good… Then allow me." Deka Blue said as he faced Dora Hydra, "Dora Hydra. For smuggling an illegal creature, property damage, taking away people's ages, and the deaths of many innocent citizens! Judgment!" Even though this was not an Alienizer, Deka Blue was bound to the laws that he must not kill indiscriminately. Although he was doubting that the system would work on non-Alienizers, he had to give it a shot. Showing his SP License, the ultimate court was called to judge on the Dora Hydra, who was considerably confused on what's going on.

And naturally, it landed on a red X. 'Wow… even that worked on non-Alienizers!' Deka Blue was surprised as a result that the Judgement system even would work against evil creatures not considered an Alienizer. "Delete Approved!" Deka Blue said, putting away his SP License and prepared his D-Sniper. "Mei… on my mark."

"Understood!" Ptera Ranger said as she pulled her bow, "Just give me the sign!"

"Right… Set! D-Sniper!" Deka Blue then began charging the sniper's power, "Set… Charge! Now!" He then gave the signal to Ptera Ranger with a nod.

"Right! Ptera Arrow!" Ptera Ranger called out, giving the arrow more strength as she released the bow string, and set the empowered arrow aimed to the Dora Hydra's body…

"STRIKE OUT!" With that, Deka Blue pulled the trigger, also shooting the Dora Hydra, heavily wounding it after the arrow had been pierced on his body.

"My turn!" Red Mask said, with his Masky Blade shining with power and he ran forward to the staggering Dora Hydra. "MASKY CRASH!" With the yell, he slashed the Dora Hydra with a cross-slash, eventually destroying it.

"Great… With this, case _complete_!" Deka Blue said, putting away his D-Sniper. In the meantime, the dinosaur that assaulted the Deka Base in a sudden disintegrated as the one whose soul was linked to it had been deleted.

* * *

After the battle, Takeru, Hoji and Mei looked at the remnants of the Deka Base. "It's in a mess…" Hoji muttered, "Our home…"

"Well, you did say that with people, such base can be rebuilt, right?" Takeru tried to cheer him up by pointing at several officers that were also looking at the base from a different direction, "Look! You did a good job on evacuating everyone."

"Heh… I guess." Hoji said, before he turned to Mei, "So… about your power?"

"It's still intact, I suppose." Mei said, still trying to feel the power, "I guess as long as the other dinosaur is still alive, my power would still remain. I pray that that remaining dinosaur is in a safe place somewhere…"

"Hmm…" Hoji nodded, at least glad that Mei did what would be the right thing. Just then, he realized, "So… what now?"

"How about we take a journey somewhere?" Takeru suggested, "The world isn't limited to this town only. Besides, there's more chance that we'd find clues about what's happening in this world if we're not stuck in just one town."

"Ah, that…" Mei was reminded that the current world didn't seem to be the way it was, with warriors of Super Sentai from various timelines existed together. "I'd like to follow you as well. Hoji, how about you?"

"Well, I…" Hoji was hesitating, reminded of his duty in Megalopolis. However, suddenly he saw one of the SPD officers approaching him.

"Hoji, please leave the rest to us." The officer said, "We saw you fight… and we think that this might not be the end of those weird monsters. This looks like one big case that you'll need to solve and it might be a worldwide threat… So please, leave the town and base to us!"

"Sure you can handle it?" Hoji asked, since him leaving would mean that there would be no Dekaranger to protect the town.

"Please, leave everything to us!" The officer said, "Contacts and weaponry, we have them all!"

When Hoji looked at the rest of the officers, they were giving a look that they're ready to let him go. With that, he smiled and finally gave a reply, "Very well… I'll leave this to you."

"We'll do our best, sir!" The officer saluted, in which Hoji saluted back. He then gave out a key, "You can use this key for your travel outside the town. Best of luck!"

"OK." Hoji nodded as he picked up the key and turned to Takeru and Mei, "Let's go."

"Right." Takeru and Mei nodded as they followed Hoji to the car that they would use to travel outside Megalopolis, and investigate the mystery that befell on the world. Each of them had their own thoughts about these events.

'I do not know what is happening, but I promise I will get to the bottom of this. Until then… please be safe. Chief… Momoko… everyone…'

'To stop mysterious incidents like this… would be my job anyway. I never thought I'd leave Megalopolis for this. Hopefully, this won't last long.'

'Did Bandora escape again? If that was the case, I must stop her, even without everyone else's help. Only I can do it… I hope the Guardian Beasts would forgive me for what I've done to one of the dinosaurs they wanted me to protect…'

What will they find outside the borders of Megalopolis? They did not know. But they would find it out soon…

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: And yep, once again I'm against the flow and put Mei of Zyuranger as the third member. Sorry, Burai fans (not that I dislike him, but I just like some others better). Anyway, I've decreased the amounts of English phrase for Hoji, hopefully that's the right amount. Now, you can bring on the constructive criticism and reviews!


	4. Service of the Ninja in the Devil Forest

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Here we go again. Hopefully this chapter just doesn't generate some unfortunate implications...**  
**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY ON CHAPTER 3  
**

* * *

_Takeru, otherwise known as the Red Mask, seemingly was thrown into the future after a year defeating the Tube Empire. He was thrown into a bizarre world where he met Super Sentai warriors of the future, all according to the book 'History of Super Sentai'; Tomasu Hoji AKA Deka Blue of the Dekarangers and Mei AKA Ptera Ranger of the Zyurangers. With the two lending him a hand, Takeru aimed to uncover the mystery behind this bizarre world…_

* * *

**CHAPTER 4: Service of the Ninja in the Devil Forest  
**

* * *

Driving the car lent by the Deka Base, Takeru drove towards a forest while driving through a mountain, as the pathway to the next city was there. The sign board was blurry, so he did not know which city he would be headed, but he had no choice. There was no other choice. While he drove, his thought was also directed to the mysterious book 'History of the Super Sentai'.

'Why does the book appear in front of me all of the sudden?' Takeru thought, recalling how he found the book right after he was separated from Momoko, 'Does it have to do with how this world came into?' Slightly taking a look on his new friends, Hoji who sat next to him, silently facing forward. He let Takeru drive since he's more familiar in driving a motor cycle. And sitting behind was Mei, who… was looking at a white hair band with a pink flower attached on it and trying to equip it on her head. 'Is this meeting with these two are not coincidental either?'

"Takeru!" Mei suddenly broke the silence, calling him. She showed the hair band, now perfectly put on her hair, "How do I look?"

"Oh, uh… yeah." Takeru nodded with a smile, "You look cute on that."

"Really?" Mei was happy to hear it, "I knew I bought the right one before we left!"

"Ah, yeah… and you were using my money for that." Hoji said sarcastically, "Why did I agree to lend that money anyway?"

"Oh, come on, Hoji… that's not really expensive, right?" Mei insisted, "But then again, forgive me for being unable to resist. It's just so adorable!"

"Adorable… heh." Hoji said with a snark tone on his voice, "Sometimes an adorable look can be fooling."

"Eh?" Both Takeru and Mei were shocked hearing that.

"Okay, maybe I went too far…" Hoji then retracted the words, but what he said next wasn't much nicer, "What I'm saying is that… I haven't really trusted you."

"What?" Mei was saddened hearing it, "But we were able to fight together…"

"That one I can accept." Hoji continued, "But I still can't believe about your history. Humans, living together with dinosaurs? Pure bull. Humans weren't even supposed to evolve to its most basic form, let alone gain intelligence like you, when dinosaurs roamed the land!"

"But I was telling the truth!" Mei still insisted, "We lived together… and the reason why Bandora declared war on humanity was because her son died being chased by dinosaurs! We wouldn't be fighting her if we weren't living with the dinosaurs!"

"Bandora?" Takeru asked, before he tried his luck in guessing, "Lemme guess, is she your enemy?"

"How did you know?" Mei asked, confirming that Takeru guessed it right.

"Well, I had my sources…" Takeru answered, hiding about his 'History of Super Sentai' book.

"That's not a good enough proof." Hoji said coldly, "Do you take me as an idiot? Or are you crazy? How am I going to believe that humans do live with dinosaurs, when only one woman says so? Prove it to me."

"Crazy? Hoji… you seriously thought I'm crazy?" Mei asked sadly, "Do I look like someone who's lying?" This prompted Hoji to look behind and faced Mei. She did look sad, as if insisting that she's telling the truth. However, there were many criminals who would fake a pitiful face to receive forgiveness, only for them to repeat their crime again. Mei might not be a criminal, but Hoji couldn't bring himself to trust her just like that, especially since they just met.

"You still had a long way to go if you want to earn my trust." Hoji said, before turning back to face forward, leaving a dejected Mei to lean her back to the chair in disappointment.

'Hoji, you're cruel…' she thought. However, she hadn't lost hope yet, thus she asked Takeru about it, "Takeru, what about you? Do you think I'm lying?"

"Well, um… that…" Takeru tried to answer, while driving, "Tell you the truth, your story might be a bit too grand to believe like that…" Hearing that, Mei was disappointed even further. She thought that not only Hoji, but Takeru did not believe her. She felt that she didn't quite belong to the team.

"But, well…" Takeru tried to finish his sentence, until he looked forward and suddenly realized that the sky has been getting dark, "Huh? Is it time already?"

"Well…" Hoji said, looking at the clock on his watch, "This is supposed to be 7 PM…"

"Man, time sure passed… Wha? !" Takeru suddenly saw a figure in front of the car. Due to the darkness of the sky, he couldn't get a clear glimpse of who was standing in front of the car, but it was enough to shock Takeru and he instinctively spun the wheels so fiercely that eventually the car smashed a nearby tree.

"Agh… what was that?" Takeru uttered as he got out of the car, along with the rest. He tried to look for the figure who blocked his way, but he couldn't be seen, "Great, now what do we do? It's too dark to walk further." Only the stars provided what little sight they could have, but it was too dangerous for them to go on further

"Well, looks like that would come in handy…" Hoji said as he headed to the car's baggage at the back. Opening it, he pulled out some sleeping bag, "Looks like we have no choice but to make a camp for now."

"Well, it'd be better than nothing, I suppose." Takeru nodded, "We're gonna need woods for the fire."

"These woods look usable." Mei pointed to several woods located near a tree. She moved and picked up the woods, gathering it near the car. Putting out a lighter, Hoji burnt the woods, thereby creating their own campfire.

* * *

"Well, better than nothing." Hoji said as he handed down several canned foods he picked up from the car. It was like the Deka Base crews prepared the items for survival in dangerous places, "Eat up."

"Right. Thanks, Hoji!" Takeru said as he opened the can. It contained rice with eggs, meats and carrots. "We're eating." With that, the three ate.

"Hm, this tastes good. Even if it's canned…" Mei commented after she eventually finished.

"Yeah. Just remember, there'll be no such luxury tomorrow." Hoji said, "We ran out of food. So tomorrow, we're gonna have to find our own."

"Well, you can count on me for that, then." Takeru said, as he eventually yawned, "But for now… we'd better sleep. Gotta save our strength to look for tomorrow's breakfast and find a way out of this forest."

Unlike Takeru and Hoji, Mei's experience as a warrior enabled her to sense something they couldn't. She could sense an evil spirit dwelling nearby, but she couldn't determine what kind of spirit, "Um… guys? I think we're not in a normal forest…"

"What now?" Hoji sounded slightly annoyed, thinking that he'd be fed with 'lies' again.

"Well… something's wrong with this forest." She started, "It's like there's an evil spirit lurking in this forest."

"Yeah? Well… Let me tell you that I am a crocodile demon in disguise." Hoji suddenly gave a rather snarky comment.

"Eh? !" Mei was shocked at hearing what Hoji just said… until she realized what's going on, "That was a joke, right?"

"Same like how I was gonna ask about your statement… that was a lie too, right?" He said.

"Hoji!" Mei shouted, completely annoyed at him, "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not lying about my past? ! You know that I have friends from the timeline?"

"Okay, I'll be blunt." Hoji said, "I will acknowledge that you and the Zyurangers saved the Earth in the past. Still, I am not buying with any of your story about you living with the dinosaurs. Best I can come up is you live with dinosaur-like creatures, not like dinosaurs that lived in the actual prehistoric era, but you're calling them dinosaurs. Just admit that… liar."

"I am not a liar!" Mei insisted, "I was born in the prehistoric age!"

"Cut it out!" Hoji yelled at her, "I don't like those who obviously is lying, but keep insisting that they know the truth… Have you ever read an actual history book? !"

"Could you two keep it down? !" Takeru suddenly yelled, getting up from his sleep, "I'm trying to get some sleep here!"

"Ah, geez! Talking with you is like talking with a rock!" Mei gave up and got on her sleeping bag and said in annoyance, "I'm going to sleep!"

"Fine. It's useless to talk to blatant liars anyway." Hoji said as he also retired to his sleeping bag and closed his eyes, slowly falling asleep. On the other hand, Mei was completely irritated at Hoji's attitude as she tried to sleep… slowly and quietly muttering something from her mouth.

"Hoji… you jerk."

* * *

"_To say that what I learned about history was a total lie… That's just ridiculous!"_

"_Humans, living together with dinosaurs? Pure bull. Humans weren't even supposed to evolve to its most basic form, let alone gain intelligence like you, when dinosaurs roamed the land!"_

"_Do you take me as an idiot? Or are you crazy? How am I going to believe that humans do live with dinosaurs, when only one woman says so? Prove it to me."_

"_You still had a long way to go if you want to earn my trust."_

"_Tell you the truth, your story might be a bit too grand to believe like that…"_

"I'm not… I'm not a liar…! Please… won't anybody believe me…?"

* * *

"AH!" In a sudden, Mei bolted out from her sleep, gasping heavily. She just had a nightmare, reliving all of the distrust that has been thrown to her from Hoji. And on the other hand, she thought Takeru did not believe her as well. Unable to take it, Mei got up and snuck away from the two sleeping boys.

'I can't sleep like this… maybe I should take a walk or something…' She thought as she ventured to the dark forest, leaving the boys in their sleep.

* * *

The night was rather quiet. It was quite the peaceful, albeit slightly cold night. However, Mei was able to enjoy the night breeze, with the stars shining and acting like lights. 'I wonder what kind of forest is this…' she thought as she kept walking. She was clearly thinking much better, trying to forget on the accusations thrown to her. Although she also tried thinking of how to convince them that what she said was the truth.

Until she suddenly heard a croak and felt like something was stomping on her feet. When she looked down, she couldn't really see what's on her feet, but she saw that it was like… a frog. "KYAA!" Mei screamed and kicked away. Even though she was a brave warrior, she's still like a normal teenage girl, having fears to things like frogs. However, that scream was the turning point for Mei. At that point, the evil spirit that she felt before could be felt coming in stronger.

"Where…?" Mei looked around, trying to sense the evil spirit more. Until she heard the tree leaves moving. She caught a glimpse of a figure running, the similar figure that appeared in front of Takeru's car and caused it to crash. "Wait!" Thinking that it might be the source of the evil spirit, Mei gave chase to the figure, but she couldn't catch up.

* * *

'Too quick…' Mei said as she stopped, catching her breath. Just then, she realized that she was standing in front of a stairway with a lamp nearby. "Who lived here?" She muttered as she walked up the stairs, leading to a rather large field, with a small house nearby. When she walked forward, the hut's door opened and an elderly woman appeared.

"Ah, I never thought I'd meet a visitor here…" The old woman said, "Are you lost here, young girl?"

"Lost? Granny, I'm not really lost…" Mei tried to excuse herself, but the old woman continued.

"It's a normal occurrence. Because of this forest… I've had many visitors spending a night here because they're lost…"

"This forest? What's with this forest that it has so many lost people?" Mei asked again, uncertain why the old woman insisting on 'lost people'.

"This forest is a labyrinth…" The old woman said, her words shocked Mei as she realized that it would mean that she, Takeru and Hoji were trapped in a labyrinth. While she was shocked at the revelation, the old woman continued, "The Youkai Onibaba has cursed this forest. Until she is dead, nobody could leave this forest…"

"Youkai… Onibaba?" Mei was unfamiliar with the term 'Youkai'. She heard it's Japanese ghost, different from the Dora Monsters she fought before, but she never thought that she'd be dealing with one later, "Do you know where she is and what she does? I may try to defeat her and lift the curse of this forest."

"Ah, you're a feisty and brave one, aren't you…" The old woman smiled, surprised at Mei's bravery, "Very well. Come inside, I will tell you what she could do."

Nodding, Mei followed the old woman to enter her house. However, when she entered the house, she was shocked beyond reason. The house's small lobby only consisted a coach to sit down at the center. Surrounding it before two rooms behind it, however, were human skulls, as if they were eaten and only left with bones lacking flesh. "This… what are these?" Mei said in a slight fright at witnessing such horrifying scenery.

"Oh those?" The old woman said nonchalantly, "Those are my foods. Or rather… what remains of it… hee hee…"

"What? !" Mei was shocked on hearing how the old woman said that as she moved her hands in a bizarre way and suddenly in a puff of smoke, the old woman vanished, and instead, a rather decrepit, goblin-like woman in rags, with wild hair, sharp nails and teeth was in her place. "You… you're actually…"

"Yes, my sweet child… I am that Onibaba." The woman said, revealing her sharp claws, and showing a picture on a wall, depicting an ancient picture of a sitting goblin-like woman "I am a youkai with an ability to disguise myself as someone as I wished but I prefer old decrepit ladies so they won't suspect me much… My hobby is to feast on humans… especially virgins. Male or female, it doesn't matter. And now… you're going to be the 100th virgin that I shall eat."

"So these skulls belonged to the unfortunate virgins that you ate? !" Mei said angrily, knowing that she's been tricked.

"Unfortunate, maybe, but they don't come here by accident…" Onibaba said, "I disguised myself as a human peddler that sells my victims items that would make them inevitably head to this forest… Male or female, it doesn't matter. Once they buy my item, they would get themselves here… and I would cook and eat them."

Hearing about the 'buying' part, Mei suddenly remembered the head band she just bought. In short, she didn't realize that the headband seller was Onibaba and she was being lured to the forest labyrinth, dragging Takeru and Hoji along.

"And you know, I'm really happy… because for the 100th virgin… It's someone special like you." Onibaba chuckled eerily, "I can sense something special within you, my sweet child. This is going to be a feast!"

Before she could speak any further, she suddenly realized that Mei has been pulling her arrow trying to shoot her. She managed to dodge in time, when Mei attempted to shoot her stomach. "Unforgivable…" Mei uttered angrily, "Maybe you're not a Dora Monster… but to lure other innocent humans to their deaths like that… against their will… I will not forgive you!"

"Did you think you can defeat me?" Onibaba said as she snapped her finger, "Come on, Dorodoros!"

In a sudden, Mei found herself surrounded with a new kind of foot soldiers. These foot soldiers were clad in blue suit, and had a rather haunting, yet funny mask that was usually worn by those who were looking for a cheap way to imitate the Grim Reaper itself. But she's not fooled with the silliness of the soldiers' appearances. "I want you all to restrain her alive!" As Onibaba commanded, the soldiers quickly jumped trying to put Mei down. However, she quickly leapt to the other side and started fighting her way out, trying to get out of the house immediately.

'I have to get out of here!' Mei thought, concerned with her two friends, as she fought her way through the waves of Dorodoros, until she eventually reached the door. But then she remembered that they didn't trust her. However, she clearly felt better for one thing, 'If they end up getting lost, I'll know how to make them trust me. I will take them here and we'll defeat the monster together, get out of here and they'll finally believe that I'm no liar!'

"You're a feisty one… and I hate to say it, but your voice is getting on my nerves." Onibaba said as she was already blocking Mei's path outside of the door. For an old woman, she could move fast, "It's gratingly high-pitched."

"What's wrong with having a high-pitched voice? !" Mei was annoyed hearing it, since nobody ever said that her voice was grating, but she managed to return the words with an equally witty comment, "Or perhaps you're jealous that your voice sounded so decrepit?"

"Oh, shut up!" Onibaba replied as she eventually snapped her finger, gathering the remaining Dorodoros to her. "Now, witness the skill of Onibaba!" As she said that, she pulled a bottle containing a dark liquid. She then poured it to the Dorodoros and in a sudden, they were moving in pain, as if having seizures. Mei was shocked at what the liquid did… it turned the otherwise silly-looking soldiers into hulking ogre-like creatures with one horn on their heads. "Face the army of mighty Oni!" Onibaba boasted, introducing the new form of soldiers.

The Oni began attacking Mei. However, they were rather slow that Mei was able to dodge most of their attacks. However, their attacks were so strong that one punch to the ground could create a line of ground craters due to the impact of their punch, or take down huge trees in a single strike.

While dodging, Mei managed to use some of her arrows to shoot down the heels of the Oni soldiers, which made them keel over in pain, revealing a mark on the back of its head. When she shot at that, the Oni was obliterated.

'That's it! All I have to do is to attack their heel from behind and then shoot the mark behind their heads!' Mei thought, until she realized one thing… she ran out of normal arrows.

"Well, looks like I'll have to do it, then." Mei then grabbed her Dino Buckler and prepared to transform. "DINO BUCK—" Unfortunately for her, before she could finish the incantation, the Onibaba moved right in front of her face and suddenly threw a bunch of sands onto her eyes, "AH! My… my eyes…!" Mei ended up canceling her transformation and her sight was disrupted. An Oni took advantage of this and punched her from behind, although not so much as going with full power. But it was powerful enough that the impact caused from it and smashing the ground caused Mei to lose her consciousness.

* * *

When Mei regained her consciousness, she realized that she was back in the house, lying down on the ground. Since she didn't recognize further other than the house's lobby, she realized that she might be inside one of the rooms behind her. "Mmm…" She tried to mutter something as her head still ached. However, she was shocked when such voice came out, and she realized that her mouth has been gagged. The Onibaba probably gagged her because she's annoyed at her voice…

Not only that, she found out that her arms were bent behind her back and tied with a string of strong ropes. The same were applied to her legs and ankles, as well as her body, binding her arms and body together and pretty much prevented her from a lot of free movements. 'What did they do to me?' The more she struggled, the rope seemed to bind her even tighter. There certainly was some sort of evil energy on the ropes that bound her, but she didn't know the secret behind it.

Looking around, Mei noticed that there were quite a lot of foods, with one window behind it, thus she assumed that she's locked inside the store room. Suddenly, she remembered what the Onibaba said.

"_You're going to be the 100__th__ virgin that I'll eat."_

She didn't know why the Onibaba chose to leave her bound and gagged inside the store room instead of eating her immediately. The best reason she could think of was that the Youkai just ate and was too full, thus it preferred to wait until morning and consume her for breakfast. 'But why am I thinking like that? ! I have to get out before she eats me!'

She then looked around, trying to find a knife nearby. She found one, located on a platform hanging on the wall, along with a weird device that she did not recognize. But at any rate, she couldn't reach the platform even if she stood due to her bound hands. As a result, she took a sitting position, slowly moved near the wall with all the restraints put on her and started kicking the wall, hoping that it would shake the platform enough so the knife would be dropped.

However, while she was kicking the wall, she heard an unnatural hiss. Fear started to gather around Mei, hoping that it's not what she thought it was, as she turned behind to where the hiss came from…

"Mmmff!" She let out a muffled scream witnessing what's approaching her… two snakes, coming from a hole from a wall. They're not the venomous types, but the restricting ones. But snakes are still snakes, and they looked hungry enough and set their sights on her. Frightened, Mei tried to crawl to the corner of the room as the snakes slithered forward. "Mnnt Kmmf… MMNT KMMF!" Mei tried to scream so they stay away from her, but snakes wouldn't understand human languages, let alone gagged ones. It would seem that no matter how hard Mei struggled and tried to get away, she couldn't prevent the snakes to enjoy their dinner.

'So I am their dinner, not hers…'

"BAD SNAKES!" Suddenly the Onibaba entered the room and grabbed both snakes with her hands, apparently annoyed enough, "This is supposed to be MY food! Get your own! In fact… I know where you'd find two good foods… two young men sleeping, unaware of my presence. But I don't really care about them, so you can have them… Find them, they should still be around this forest!"

With that, the Onibaba tossed the two snakes out of the window. Mei was shocked hearing it. Did the Youkai knew the presence of Takeru and Hoji? If that was the case, then they're in a big trouble if the snakes eat them when they're asleep. She tried to ask the Onibaba on what she had in plan for the two, but since her mouth was gagged, nothing coherent came out. Just then, she suddenly moved near the platform she's trying to drop and picked up the knife that she's been trying to drop.

"Ah there it is! I need to cut something off…" Onibaba said nonchalantly, before she looked into Mei, "Well I know you've been trying to knock it off, but now, you can do no more. Just stay put like a good girl and await the end of your life tomorrow. Well, I wonder how tasty you'd be tomorrow, hee hee hee…"

As the Onibaba left, Mei felt completely hopeless. Her only means to escape was taken away, and she couldn't do anything as two predatory creatures were sent out to eat her two friends who were unaware of what happened. In frustration, she let out a muffled scream as she incoherently struggled through her bonds in vain, even though it ended up tightening the bonds.

'I shouldn't have bought that…!' She thought as she remembered that the reason why she was here was because the cute hair band that she bought and was currently wearing. She didn't think that it would spell doom to them all, with both her friends about to be eaten, and her captured and to be eaten by an unknown enemy, 'I'm sorry, Takeru… I'm sorry, Hoji…!'

* * *

However, in the same time, at the outskirts of the house, the figure that Mei was chasing was still running around the forest. "_Damn, where is she._" The figure, who was male, uttered a perfectly English phrase, looking around. Just then, he heard another hiss. Hiding behind the trees, he saw the two snakes slithering to a direction. 'It's those snakes. Which means…!' After the snakes were out of his sight, the figure ran to the direction where the snake came from.

Eventually he found the same stairway and lamp that Mei came across. Walking up to the stairs, the figure eventually came upon the house. "_Found you._" He uttered, again in English.

Deciding to sneak to the house without being noticed, the figure silently walked, and took a peek through the windows. He saw the Onibaba soundly sleeping, but he wouldn't want to risk waking her up and he found nothing of interest there, so he snuck to the back of the house, which was the store room. 'OK, here we go.'

With that, the figure slowly reached the window and entered the store room. The stench of the food became rather strong for his mouth. Just then, when he tried to walk, he felt like his feet tripped onto something and he fell to the ground. "_Oh n…_" He tried to yell "OH NO!" in English, but managed to stop himself in the nick of time and instead concentrated all his might to his pointing fingers, making them the only one that touched the ground, thus not making much sound.

"Mmmhh? !" He then heard a muffled girl's voice, and when he finally managed to get up, he saw Mei, at first asleep, but the man tripped on her legs. "Mmm?" She was confused looking at the man, who looked like dressed in a black ninja garb.

"_Hey, you okay? She did this to you, didn't she?_" The man asked as he removed the gag on Mei's mouth.

"Uh… what?" The first thing Mei asked was asking what he was saying, since she's not quite familiar with the actual English language.

"Ahem… You all right? She did this to you, didn't she?" The man coughed up a bit before speaking in Japanese, revealing that he could speak in such language.

"She?" Mei asked in a low voice, since she knew the Youkai was sleeping, "You mean that… that Onibaba…?"

"I knew it. Finally I found where she is." The man said… "Is she saying she's going to eat you?"

"How did you know about that?" Mei asked, before she thought something else more shocking, "Wait, don't tell me you had a relative… eaten by her?"

"_No. _I'm hunting her. She stole something from me to prevent me destroying her." The man said.

"Who're you, then?" Mei asked, "I am called Mei."

"I am Jiraiya." The man finally introduced himself, but suddenly felt like he had trouble in speaking further, "I… uh… hunt Youkai?" He came up, based on some sort of comic he read back then. Mei felt like he's hiding something, but she chose not to pursue it further.

"Anyway…" Jiraiya continued, "I'm looking for my Doron device. That's what she stole from me."

"Is it something square and metallic?" Mei asked, "With some gold color?"

"_Huh? _Where?" Jiraiya said, looking around.

"Up there…" Mei said, looking upwards to the platform where the knife was previously located. When Jiraiya looked, his face turned bright.

"Oh yes, this is it!" He said, as he picked it up and replaced it with something else, "_Thank you._"

"Of course…" Mei replied, but suddenly she remembered something, "Ah!"

"Huh?"

"Jiraiya, isn't it? Can I ask you a favor?" Mei started, "Did you see two big snakes slithering outside?"

"That? Yeah." Jiraiya nodded, "That's why I could find my place here."

"Please, follow those snakes!" Mei pleaded, her face showed worry, "Those snakes are trying to eat my friends! Please, you've got to save them!"

"Okay. But first…" Jiraiya said as she approached Mei, trying to untie her. But she suddenly backed away.

"Don't!"

"Why not?" Jiraiya asked, "If I leave you tied up here, you might not be able to escape her!"

"I… I'll be fine!" Mei tried to reassure her, "I still have time until morning comes. I'll think of something until that time. But my friends… if left be, they might not even survive the night! Please you've got to hurry! Don't worry about me!"

"I… all right." Jiraiya finally agreed to leave Mei like that and prepared to exit through the window. He gave one last look to Mei, as if telling her that he'll be back with her friends to save her. She only nodded in confirmation. As Jiraiya left, Mei realized that she must not drown herself in hopelessness and despair. As her previous friend taught her, she must never give up…

And it was then she realized that the ropes that tied her have loosened a little. 'Huh?' She thought, slowly moving her body. It was true, she felt like it wasn't binding her as tight as before. 'How did this happen? Even the energy surrounding the ropes seemed less powerful…' Trying to remember what she did back then, Mei finally figured out what's going on with the rope and decided to give it a shot…

* * *

As he exited the house, Jiraiya went back to the place where he spotted the snakes. Using the trails from their slithering body, he managed to find out where they're headed and followed them. 'Her friends… I wonder if she's like me…'

He remembered his last tale from the previous year, being a member of the team Kakuranger; led by the kunoichi Tsuruhime and assisted with three other ninjas; Sasuke, Saizou and Seikai. Together, they managed to seal the Lord of Youkais, Daimaou, at cost of their transformation devices, the Doron Changer, which he just retrieved. At that moment, they were living together like a family, running a crepe stand which was profitable enough for them to live.

The Doron Changer was supposed to become one with the new seal. However, a year after sealing Daimaou, a weird quake happened and Jiraiya ended up separated with the rest of the Kakurangers. Wandering around trying to locate his friends, he ended up stumbling upon the sealing gate. It was then he found out that one of the Doron Changers that became the gate's seal was missing… and it was his. Knowing that such thing would allow the evil influence of Youkai to spread to the world, even if it's just a little, Jiraiya swore to recover his Doron Changer and seal the gate completely again.

Eventually he found out that the Doron Changer was stolen by the Youkai Onibaba. Jiraiya confronted her, but she managed to escape when he was also attacked by a mysterious foe he had never seen. With that, he changed his mind. Before he would use the Doron Changer to seal the gate, he would use it to fight against the new evil that assisted the Youkai. And now, he just recovered it…

* * *

"GAAAHH!" A scream of two men eventually caught Jiraiya's attention. Jumping through trees, he went to the location where the screams came from. Indeed, he found Takeru and Hoji, constricted with the two snakes, as they tried to consume them.

"Damn it…! It's too tight and strong…!" Takeru said, struggling at the snake's constriction, but even he couldn't do anything. He couldn't even focus on his Aura power to break free.

"Get… off… me!" Hoji didn't fare any better. Or rather, he was worse as the snake completely had him under control and was just opening its mouth, trying to insert him onto its body, "_God damn it…!_"

"_Hey!_" Suddenly, Jiraiya leapt, catching Takeru and Hoji's attention, before he threw several shurikens directed to the snakes. Hit with the shuriken, the snakes hissed in pain and ended up releasing Takeru and Hoji. It eventually morphed into two Oni.

"Whoa…" Hoji uttered, "The snake… turned into a bipedal monster?"

"Ugh… and our strength has been drained so much from that constricting…!" Takeru said, catching his breath as both oni approached the two boys.

However, the two oni were also hit with two shuriken on their heels and were slashed on the back of the head by Jiraiya, who already appeared behind them. "Made it! You guys OK?"

"Thanks, but… Who're… you?" Takeru asked.

"A ninja? For real?" Hoji noted as he looked at Jiraiya's ninja garb.

"My name is Jiraiya." Jiraiya introduced himself, which also shocked Takeru; realizing that his face also matched the Jiraiya listed in the book of 'History of Super Sentai', as in the member of the Kakurangers.

'Yet another Super Sentai warrior… Is this really fate?"

"I take that you two are the friends of Mei?" Jiraiya asked a question which shocked both boys.

"Wait, how did you know her?" Hoji asked, already suspicious at Jiraiya's words of knowing Mei.

"Uh, yeah. We're her friends." Takeru nodded, confirming Jiraiya's question, "I am Takeru. And this is…"

"Tomasu Hoji." Hoji said, "You can call me Hoji."

"Takeru and Hoji, I see." Jiraiya said, "You ask why I know Mei? I met her. And she's in danger."

"In danger? !" Takeru said, shocked at Jiraiya's statement.

"Well, it's like this…" Jiraiya then started telling what he knew about Mei and the Onibaba that captured her…

* * *

"So you were saying… Mei got kidnapped by the Onibaba and she's about to get cooked this morning? !" Takeru reiterated what Jiraiya said, in which he nodded.

"We've got no time. Lead the way, Jiraiya!" Hoji said, "We've got to save her!"

"_Leave it to me!_" Jiraiya said, in English, which somehow surprised Hoji.

'That's some _perfect_ accent… is he American?'

"Wait up." Takeru suddenly stopped the two from running off, his voice suddenly turned rather stern, "Before we go, there's something I have to address."

"What now, Takeru?" Hoji said.

"Hoji… Do you realize what you've done and what you're trying to do?" Takeru continued, his voice suddenly becoming rather angry, "I hope you're ready…"

"What's… with that tone of voice?" Hoji asked, confused with how Takeru suddenly feeling hostile, "And ready for what?"

"For THIS!" As Takeru said that, he suddenly punched Hoji on the face, knocking him on the ground.

"What was that for? !" Hoji said angrily, rubbing his face, "Are you picking a fight with me? !"

"Think again, Tomasu Hoji!" Takeru yelled, referring Hoji with his full name, "Do you know why Mei was caught? !"

"How am I supposed to know? !" Hoji replied back, "Other than what Jiraiya said about what that Onibaba is planning? !"

"Think. Think of what you've done to her!" Takeru pointed at Hoji, causing him to rethink of what he's done to her. Of course he remembered.

"Yeah, I know. I don't believe her history." Hoji said, "But really, why should be we wasting our time debating on this? ! If we don't hurry…"

"And in case we save her, are you still going to nag on wanting proof about the truth of her history?" Takeru said, "This is exactly why Mei left and got kidnapped in the first place! I want to prevent this to happen again!"

"How can you come up with that conclusion?" Hoji asked, hoping that Takeru wasn't drawing things out of thin air.

"Remember last time she went to sleep." Takeru said, "She was so annoyed at you not believing her past. I know…"

"Takeru… you can't be serious." Hoji shook his head, "You really started believing that dinosaurs co-existed with humans? What did your history teacher taught you? !"

"Yeah. Exactly like you learned too. But for now… I don't give a crap about that!" Takeru brushed off Hoji's reasoning, "Do you really need such scientific proofs to assure friendship? It's no measurement tool!"

"Takeru…" Hoji uttered, realizing that Takeru did have a point.

"Who cares if it turns out dinosaurs indeed co-existed with humans! Mei's story may be hard to digest… but I trust her nonetheless!" Takeru made his point stand, "We fought together for the common cause before. And we may as well again, in the future, in this bizarre world. We may need each other's strengths. Yet you, Hoji… you still have time to cloud your judgment with such unnecessary thing! She's also a member of the Super Sentai and has fought against evil before! Are you telling me that her allies, the Zyurangers, are a bunch of liars as well? !"

Hoji was shocked hearing it. He remembered that the reason he made it that far as a Dekaranger was because he has his bond with his friends. Takeru was right, the world as of now was rather bizarre, the unexpected may happen, and without his old friends, he had to make a new bond if he was to survive. And he has refused to create a strong bond with Mei due to doubting her stated history and the history he learned when he was a kid. He remembered what his friend Ban would usually do… sometimes, rules could be broken if it was to achieve a greater good.

"You got me, Takeru." Hoji nodded, his face showed a tingle of regret, "Maybe… I was wrong all this time. I really shouldn't mistrust Mei. I knew her voice was the voice of someone who wouldn't lie, but I was so stuck up with the history I learned that I found it hard to believe in her. You're right… she's still a Super Sentai warrior, and that alone speaks a lot for her commitment to fight evil, no matter what… and I shouldn't have belittled it."

"Sometimes, Hoji…" Takeru said, his voice less angered after learning that Hoji finally understood the right thing, "You have to let go of what you learnt in the past. You don't always have to follow the book. As a police in Megalopolis, maybe, but right now you're you… There's no book to follow other than your heart."

"Heart…" Hoji noted again. Deep in his heart, he did acknowledge Mei as a sweet, gentle and kind girl who is also strong-hearted and was honestly good-hearted. In a sudden, he felt an urge… an urge to admit that he's been a jerk to her and wanted to apologize, "Very well… I'm going. And after this, I will apologize and put the history stuff to rest."

"That's more like it…" Takeru smiled as he tapped at Hoji's shoulder.

"Er, guys…" Jiraiya suddenly reminded them, "Shouldn't we hurry ahead? Look, the sun is almost rising."

"Ah crap. We REALLY have no time to waste now!" Takeru realized what's going on and prepared to go.

"That one was an important lecturing so I don't think we wasted any time." Hoji nodded and turned to Jiraiya, "Lead the way, Jiraiya."

"All right, but… are you going to be okay?" Jiraiya asked, "We're fighting Youkai, you know."

"Well what you saw was an unfortunate event for us." Takeru gave a small laugh, remembering how Jiraiya was the one who saved the two with him doing all the work, "But it won't happen again. We can fight on our own. Come on, let's go!" With finally nothing else needed to be said, Jiraiya ran forward, leading Takeru and Hoji to the house of Onibaba, where Mei was being held prisoner…

* * *

They made it to the staircases leading to Onibaba's house. After going up the stairs, they hid behind the bushes as they arrived at the house's field, where a giant frying pan was located. Surrounding it were woods, which could be burnt anytime to fry anything on the pan. And kneeling at the center of the pan was Mei, still with her body bound and apparently the Onibaba has re-applied the gag on her mouth again.

"Those bastards…! Doing things like that to a girl…!" Hoji whispered, looking at Mei's situation. He had the urge to just rush and save her, but he kept it down, hoping that there would be an opening.

"Wait… look at that face." Takeru noted, pointing at Mei's apparently calm face, lacking the semblance of a distressed face, "That Mei… her face shows that she might have something up to her sleeve…"

"Yeah. She still keep herself strong… or was it just a façade to fool those… Youkai?" Hoji asked.

"Don't know. We should also keep to ourselves and not lose focus… right, Jiraiya?" Takeru whispered while turning to Jiraiya. However, he was no longer there, "Wait a minute, where the hell is Jiraiya? !"

"Lower your voice!" Hoji insisted, still whispering, "Don't worry about him. He's a ninja, he must have a trick up to his sleeve."

"Ah… right." Takeru remembered that he also used to have a ninja as a friend, and was familiar with some ninja tricks, even if he couldn't execute them, "Okay, keep watching."

* * *

From the other side, however, there was another figure hiding behind several walls. It was a girl, holding a digital camera. "This is really a bizarre thing… To this day, they still make up sacrifices?" She said, as she tried to have a sneak peek. "I should take note of this… maybe they are right about them being back…" She said as she pulled her camera and aimed at Mei, eventually catching a picture of her.

Only to remember that she forgot to put the camera's blitz on. 'Oh no…!'

"Who's there!" Onibaba learned about the weird camera light and turned to the girl, "Get her!" She commanded as the Dorodoros gave chase to the girl.

'I gotta get outta here!' The girl eventually ran off. She dropped something from her pocket, but she didn't really care about that for the moment and concentrated on running off.

'I wonder if she's going to be okay…' Mei took a glance on the running girl and hoped that she'll be okay, 'Just a little bit more…'

* * *

"Chance!" Takeru saw the Dorodoros chasing the girl as a chance to finally strike out. Along with Hoji, he got up and attacked the remaining Dorodoros.

'Takeru…! Hoji…!' Mei was glad when she saw the two arriving to help, 'I knew you'd come…'

"What the? ! You're…!" Onibaba was surprised when she saw both boys attacking her men.

"You're Onibaba, right?" Takeru said as he punched away a Dorodoro soldier, "You sent that snake last night. I'll make sure you pay for that!"

"You killed and ate 99 innocent people… and worse of all, you're going to turn our friend to your 100th meal!" Hoji said as he shot down several Dorodoros and punched one, "Unforgivable… There's no need for a judgment for you. Such crime always warrants deletion!"

"So! You're her friend, aren't you…!" Onibaba said as she opened her mouth, sending off blasts to both Takeru and Hoji, although they managed to dodge. Then, she then pointed at Mei as the rest of the Dorodoros surrounded her, "But don't forget that I have a hostage! Do you really want her to die this instant…?"

"Bastard…! Even if we leave, you'll eat her instead!" Takeru said as he got up. When he looked at Mei, she was nodding, telling him to keep with it.

"You think we don't know that?" Hoji said, also recognizing Mei's gesture, "Better she die by our hands rather than getting eaten by a monster like you!"

"You're really two gutsy boys, aren't you?" Onibaba said as she started gathering energy from her mouth, "Very well! In that case…" Before Onibaba could fire the blast to Mei, she felt like something was tapping her shoulders from the back.

"_Hey._" When Onibaba turned behind, she was suddenly met with a fist to her face, the puncher being Jiraiya, who used his ninpou skill to stay undetected. Brandishing his ninja-to, Jiraiya engaged in a battle against the Onibaba, and eventually after just two rounds, Jiraiya deliverded a flurry of slashes… which cut the majority of Onibaba's wild hair, "Now that looks nice for a Youkai like you." Jiraiya jokingly commented, now that the Youkai was nearly bald.

"My… my beautiful hair…! You cut my haaaaiiiirrr!" Onibaba screamed in anger as she eventually she also brandished her long claws.

'Now!' At that very moment, Mei felt like the ropes binding her had been rather loose and felt rather weak. Gathering all her strength, she managed to snap the ropes binding her arms and body. 'It worked! Just as I thought!' She thought happily as she removed the gag from her mouth and also snapped the ropes that bound her legs, getting up. Mei then ran towards the Onibaba, leapt and delivered a kick, while letting out an attack yell that she had been denied for long. She managed to realize that Mei was trying to attack her, and blocked her kick with her nails, but for some reason, her nails were weakened that one kick managed to break down several of her nails.

"You…! How did you…? !" Onibaba cursed, seeing Mei has been freed by herself, until she noticed her nails, "My… my nails! You broke my beautiful nails! Damn you!". The reason why she hated high pitched voice was because her nails were quite sensitive towards such voice that it would weaken them. And now... they broke.

"Well, let me tell you then," Mei said as she kicked an incoming Dorodoro soldier and eventually reuniting with Takeru, Hoji and Jiraiya, "I found out that your ropes were not normal ones. The more I struggle and panic, the more it bound me tightly. But if I keep my heart and mind clear and focused, your ropes for some reason would loosen itself and get weakened, to the point that breaking it is like snapping one twig! In other words, you should've used a normal rope instead! Bleh!" As Mei finished, she playfully stuck her tongue to taunt the Onibaba, "Boy, after being gagged all night, that sure felt good!"

"Wow… to keep your calm impression that long even if you know you're going to get eaten is an impressive feat." Hoji said.

"Thanks!" Mei said, smiling, "So… you're not…"

"That can wait later…" Takeru said as he stepped forward. "Now it's our turn to lay some beat down! Let's go!"

"OK!" Both Hoji and Mei nodded as they prepared to transform.

"**AURA MASK! RED MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

In instant, the three transformed and declared their names shortly after.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Why you… wait a minute!" Onibaba remained unfazed as she pulled out something… Jiraiya's device that he's been looking for, "Hey you! Ninja! You want this, right? If you still want it…!" Before she could say anything else, Jiraiya instead threw a shuriken to the device and it exploded at the Onibaba's hand. "What? ! But that's…"

"_You mean this?_" Jiraiya said as he showed his own device, "I've got it already and just so you'd not feel something wrong, I replaced it with an explosive replica. Bet you're flabbergasted at that!"

"You little…!" Onibaba cursed, "But you'll never beat me! I still have an ace on my hand!"

"Oh yeah? Me too. It's my turn." Jiraiya said as he held the device to the front, and yelled.

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

After saying such words, Jiraiya transformed into his hero form, a ninja clad in black suit, one of the Kakurangers…

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"So… you're Jiraiya of the Kakurangers?" Deka Blue tried to confirm.

"_Huh? _I don't know where you get the information about the Kakuranger, but…" Ninja Black said as he drew his sword, "Destroying this Youkai comes first!"

"Agreed!" Red Mask nodded and the four Super Sentai warriors ran forward to attack the Onibaba. In retaliation, Onibaba used her potion to transform her Dorodoro soldiers into the fearsome Oni soldiers to fight against them.

As Red Mask and Deka Blue did not know the weaknesses of the Oni, they had a bit of a trouble of fighting them. "Guys, stand back!" Ninja Black told the rest as the team fell back and he filled the ground full of makibishis, shurikens stuck to the ground. When the Oni stepped on them, most of them keeled in pain, some revealing their weak spots behind their head, "There, aim there!"

"Got it!" Red Mask said as he unleashed his Laser Magnum and Deka Blue used his SP Shooter to shoot down at the Onis' weak points and destroyed them.

"You brats!" Onibaba cursed as she unleashed her potion, "But I can still make more…!"

"No, you don't! Ptera Arrow!" Ptera Ranger interrupted her action by accurately shooting at the potion, breaking and destroying it.

"No… NOOO!" The Onibaba wailed, in complete defeat as she ran out of options to fight, "Bah… In that case… I'll gather all the sufferings of the humans and crush you!" She then waited, hoping that the cloud would turn dark and grant her a thunder containing the suffering of humans to make her grow bigger.

She waited… and waited…

And the dark cloud never appeared at all. "Appear before me…!" She wailed again.

"Well, she's lost it." Ninja Black commented, "What do you say we finish them off?"

"Very well." Red Mask nodded as he turned to Deka Blue and Ptera Ranger, "You two, take the back." Then he turned to Ninja Black, "What do you prefer? Close range or long range?"

"Any would do." Ninja Black nodded, "But let's go with close for now."

"OK, here we go!" Red Mask said as he and Ninja Black ran forward with their swords ready, while Deka Blue and Ptera Ranger took shooting positions.

"Set! D-Sniper! … Set Charge! **STRIKE OUT**!"

"**PTERA ARROW**!"

With that, both Deka Blue and Ptera Ranger shot down Onibaba with their bullet and arrow respectively, wounding her heavily, before both Red Mask and Ninja Black surrounded her from the front and back.

"**MASKY CRASH**!"

"**KAKURE RYUU**! **NAGAREBOSHI**!"

While Red Mask delivered a cross-slash, Ninja Black slashed in a shape of a pentagram star. At any rate, both attacks were fatal enough that it destroyed the Onibaba. As its spirit flew to the sky and was destroyed, it let out one last wail.

"If only I could consume the 100th virgin... I could've achieved immortality...!"

* * *

As the ordeal was over, Takeru, Hoji and Mei walked on the forest, as their car couldn't be repaired, taking Jiraiya along to find the exit of the forest. Jiraiya also has apologized because he was the figure that distracted Takeru's driving to the point that he crashed to the tree in the first place, he was there in the wrong place and time when he was investigating the Onibaba's location. Before they departed, they had their breakfast by catching fishes on the nearby river.

"Well first off, I'm really sorry for troubling you like this…" Mei apologized firsthand, "I mean, getting caught like this…"

"Stop that." Hoji was the one to stop her, and Mei was already annoyed at that, thinking that he'd nag for the same thing again. However, his next words surprised her, "I should be the one apologizing. All this could've been prevented if I stopped bugging you about your history."

"Hoji? You mean?" She didn't quite know what he was trying to say.

"I no longer think you're a liar." Hoji said, "The credibility of history is second fiddle compared to our… teamwork. And friendship. Mei… will you… still think of me as a friend?" He knew that Mei would at least still be very annoyed. After all, he was quite the jerk towards her. He'd expect a girl like her to be mad and punish him with something, but he's fully prepared, since he knew it's his fault.

However, Mei only held his hand and smiled, "I always trusted you as a friend."

"_Thank you_." Hoji smiled back.

"Well, it looks like they finally reconcile." Takeru, who was walking with Jiraiya, commented as he witnessed Hoji apologizing, "With this, this journey will be less heavy to bear."

"I'm glad for you." Jiraiya commented, smiling.

"By the way… what are you gonna do now?" Takeru asked Jiraiya.

"Me? I don't know. But I get the feeling that if I stick with you guys, I might be able to reunite with my friends." Jiraiya said, reminded that he's the only Kakuranger remaining, while the rest has gone missing.

"Well, that's good then." Takeru smiled. Yet another Super Sentai warrior was separated from their teammates. Takeru hoped to help them reunite with their friends, and perhaps he would as well.

"By the way…" Jiraiya said as he pulled out something from the pocket, "I picked this up from that fleeing girl…" It was a card-like device.

"What's this?" Takeru was confused looking at the device. It was actually a memory card used for digital cameras, but since digital cameras, let alone memory card storage devices, weren't in his era, he didn't know about it.

"Looks like a memory card for digital camera." Hoji took a look at it, "And there's the letter 'C' on it… Maybe that girl's name has 'C' for its first letter?"

"I hope she's okay…" Mei noted, until she finally saw a town beyond the forest, "Look over there, guys! We made it out!"

"Oh great!" Takeru said, "Maybe we could get some decent food over there!"

"Maybe we'd find this 'C' girl in that town." Hoji commented, "_Perfect._"

"By the way, Hoji…" Jiraiya suddenly commented, "You're not a native in American, are you?"

"What?" Hoji suddenly turned to Jiraiya.

"I'm saying that, your English needs some work." Jiraiya said, "Foreigners could laugh at you with such broken English phrases."

"Hey, that was low!" Hoji protested, annoyed at someone finally criticizing how he spoke English.

"So, what's that English phrase you said to Mei for?" Jiraiya asked, reminded how he spelled '_thank you_' just gratuitously as if reading the katakana of the word, "Are you just trying to act cool?"

"Oh _shut up_." Hoji said in annoyance to stop the discussion he didn't want to participate in. He didn't want to discuss about his lifestyle, but Jiraiya protested further.

"There you go again… Are you just trying to look cool? Of course, I'm not mad if you're doing it…" He said, "But really, I'm just protecting you from ridicules that you may attract from foreigners… If you want, I can teach you the proper way to use it..."

"Jiraiya! Stop that! I'm fine as is!" Hoji eventually turned towards Jiraiya, rather annoyed and they ended up arguing.

"Somehow, I think Hoji's troubles are not over." Mei commented as she looked at how Hoji argued with Jiraiya, just after he let go of her history's credibility, now someone reprimanded him of the usage of English phrases.

"Well, he'll get over it somehow." Takeru reassured her as the four continued their journey heading to the town.

Another Sentai warrior has joined the entourage and they set their sights onto this new town, which looked familiar enough to them. What will they find there?

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: Yep, our next sentai warrior is Kakuranger's Jiraiya. Should be a good contrast between actual English speaking (Jiraiya) and gratuitous English speaking (Hoji). Also, I apologize if what happened to Mei offended some of you. It doesn't portray my view on women in general... At any rate, it's like I spilled the spoils of the next person who's going to appear next... Still, I hope you stay tuned! Thanks! See ya later!


	5. Formation of the Super Sentai Part 1

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's Note: **Hello again! I suppose writing this one story proved to be too long and I decided to spread this into two chapters. I hope you don't mind... Anyway, on with the chapter.**  
**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY ON CHAPTER 4  
**

* * *

_Takeru, AKA Red Mask of the Maskman, was thrown into a bizarre world whereas various future Super Sentai warriors like him existed as well as finding the book 'History of Super Sentai'. He has thus far met Tomasu Hoji/Deka Blue of the Dekarangers, Mei/Ptera Ranger of the Zyurangers and lately, Jiraiya/Ninja Black of the Kakurangers. Who will he meet next time and what is the meaning of this gathering?_

* * *

**CHAPTER 5: Formation of the Super Sentai Part 1  
**

* * *

Just as the four; Takeru, Hoji, Mei and Jiraiya; arrived to the nearby town, which seemed more home for Takeru, at least compared to Megalopolis, they decided to visit a nearby restaurant for food (paid in advance); as their last attempt to cook the foods in the woods weren't doing so well.

The town seemed to be reminiscent of the main capital Tokyo, but some of the areas felt different. This led Takeru to think that this may be a different Earth.

However, they weren't minding as they were eating at the moment. "This rice bowl tastes great." Takeru muttered, "After that disastrous attempt at cooking, it sure felt great!"

"More or less, the same as the ones in Megalopolis restaurants." Hoji also commented, "This doesn't change much."

"But this sure tastes great." Mei commented too as she finished drinking, "I've visited a lot of restaurants sometimes, and I do have to say that this one's better than usual."

"For someone who's from millions of years past, you sure adapted quickly." Hoji said, surprised at how savvy Mei's attitude was. However, that just earned him a glare from her, "No, I'm not really insinuating about how you may be lying or sorts. I'm just surprised, really!"

"She got him good…" Takeru commented at the situation, until he noticed about how Jiraiya was having a crepe near his food, "Hey, Jiraiya… So you have a crepe for your desert, huh?"

"Uh huh…" Jiraiya nodded, "My team used to make crepe all the time. Does good for our ninja disguise so they don't notice that we're the Kakurangers in instant."

"Do you cook them by yourself?" Mei asked, curiously.

"Sometimes, but most of the time, it's my friends who do the cooking." Jiraiya nodded.

"In other words, you're the 'waiter'." Hoji noted.

"Still an important job, though." Jiraiya said as he finally finished his main course and reached out the crepe, "OK. Time to dig in…" As he said, he opened his mouth and ate the crepe.

"So how is it?" Takeru asked, "If it's good, I may consider buying it…"

"_Yeah._ This is good… maybe on par with how it's cooked by…" Unfortunately, before Jiraiya could finish his sentence, he choked on his food, "Ack!" After clutching his stomach for awhile, he quickly grabbed his water and drank it, finally ridding himself of the choking, "Phew…"

"Well, that's what you get for talking while eating…" Hoji commented at the situation, but Jiraiya was able to make a comeback statement.

"And who was goading me to talk while I'm not even done with my food?"

As he told them, all three could only look at each other in embarrassment and let out an embarrassed giggle. Then, Takeru noticed something on his friend. "Mei… that ribbon… don't tell me…"

"Oh, these?" Mei pointed out at the two small ribbons tied on her hair, giving her quite a new look, "I didn't buy this one, I just collect a lot of hair accessories, and I happen to be carrying these. So… how do I look?"

"Hm, where have I seen that ribbon before…" Hoji wondered, looking at the ribbon… until he remembered something from his past… He used to buy that ribbon for his little sister for her birthday when she's a little girl. "Ah, yeah… it's that cute ribbon…"

"Cute ribbon?" Mei asked, "Then, Hoji… you think…"

"I bought that for my little sister when I was a kid." Hoji explained, before he actually smiled, "And about your question… yeah, it's _cute_."

"That's not how you say _cute_." Jiraiya once again corrected Hoji's spelling, "Here, try to repeat after me…"

"Now look here, Jiraiya…" Before Hoji wanted to protest, however, suddenly the door to the restaurant opened and a young boy on high school age ran inside.

"Someone help! Please hide me!" The boy begged to the crowd.

"Hide? For what?" Takeru asked, "Or don't tell me you were being chased by your parents or something? That's no reason for you to hide…"

"No! It's… it's a monster!" The boy said, which made any other customers to lose interest and went back to their meals, thinking that he's out of his mind.

"Monster…? ! What is it this time… Alienizer? Dora Monster? Or Youkai?" Hoji asked, "Or… whatever Takeru has been fighting… Doggler Monster, wasn't it?" Takeru nodded in response.

"Uh, what?" The boy couldn't answer such question, until Jiraiya grabbed him.

"_OK_. _You come with me._" As Jiraiya said that, he grabbed the boy and headed to a nearby toilet. In there, he used his smoke bomb to hide him and the boy.

In the meantime, however, the three decided to just stay, "Let's stay here for a bit. I'm curious with what he meant 'monster'." Mei suggested, in which the two agreed and they decided to order some extra drinks to go along with the 'continued stay'. Of course, they also bought some extra ones for Jiraiya and the boy once they got back from their hiding spot.

* * *

Shortly after, there was a man wearing sunglasses entering the restaurant. He ignored practically everything offered by the waiter and looked around the restaurant thoroughly. He even got into the toilet and investigated there too, only to find that there was nothing there. Eventually giving up, the man exited the restaurant.

Once the man got off, Takeru got up from his seat and entered the toilet. "Hey, it's OK now." As Takeru uttered the words, a dust explosion occurred inside and Jiraiya re-appeared along with the boy.

* * *

"Okay, calmed down enough?" As eventually the boy drank the purchased drinks, Hoji asked him, "So what was the problem? Monster? I don't see any monsters around. Were you just overexaggerating?"

"No, really! There was a monster in my school, disguised as one of my teachers!" The boy insisted, "I was the only person who saw his transformation by accident… that's why he's after me…"

"And what do you plan to do now? Expose him?" Takeru asked, "At least do you know how he usually disguises himself?"

"Well, I don't know… he's usually wearing sunglasses…" The boy said, "He's a new teacher, so I don't know how he usually looked…"

"Sunglasses?" Mei suddenly recalled the man with sunglasses that searched through the restaurant, "Maybe that man…!"

"There was a man with sunglasses here?" The boy said before giving a sigh of relief, "Whew, thank goodness… That was him…"

"Wow… talk about close call… um… what's your name?" Jiraiya finally asked the boy's name.

"Masato…" The boy answered.

"Okay, Masato, isn't it…" Takeru asked, "Where is your school? I think we can help investigate this…"

"Well… I'll take you there." As Masato said, the four nodded.

* * *

"Moroboshi… High?" As the four got into the destination, Hoji read the school's name on the entrance wall and suddenly remembered something, "Hey, Takeru… could this be…"

"Yeah, I know." Takeru nodded. This was no normal school. For the Super Sentai, this is a very important place as one of the teams attended this school… the Megarangers, 'The school attended by the Megarangers… I wonder if I'll meet someone from there…'

"So… I guess we'll have to sneak in here." Jiraiya noted, "_Okay_. Maybe this 'teacher', if he truly is a monster, would spend his time at night here… So we'll wait until night, and I'll sneak there and find the information. _It's a ninja's job after all._"

"Huh? Wow…" Masato was in awe with Jiraiya's English, "You spoke English good! It was my worst subject…"

"If you want, I can teach you that." Jiraiya said.

"Also, you said you're a ninja?" Masato still asked.

"Well… I was born from a family of ninja. So I had my training…" Jiraiya tried to answer while not revealing himself as a Kakuranger.

"Wait, I don't think night-sneaking will be a success… I have another idea." Mei suggested, "How about we pretend that we're students for several days and we will investigate while disguising ourselves as students?"

"Hm… that sounds like it would work…" Takeru commented, "But… I don't think I will be able to participate. They'll think I'll be too old for a high school student."

"Oh that's fine." Hoji then said, "You can be a janitor instead."

"A janitor, huh…" Takeru made an off-hand comment, until it dawned upon him what Hoji was really saying, "Wait, what? ! Me, a janitor? !"

"I agree with Hoji." Mei's support on Hoji's suggestion didn't make Takeru feel any better, nor did Jiraiya's nodding.

'You're gonna pay for that…!'

"Okay, I guess it's decided. I'll arrange it so tomorrow you can get to school." Masato said as he left to resume his class.

"So, what do we do until he returns?" Hoji asked, not feeling like he could stand straight for hours until school hours are over.

"_Of course, wait._" Jiraiya said, again in English. Without a choice, the team could only do what they could do for the moment… wait until the school hour is over.

Thankfully, however, it was only an hour and a few minutes when the school bell rang and students started exiting the school. Masato, however, also ran to them. "Success! You can enter tomorrow as transfer students! And a janitor is welcome too. They're looking for extra since the previous one retired."

"Urgh…" Takeru buried his forehead with his palm, thinking that it would be inevitable that despite being the most senior of the Super Sentai, he got handed with the janitor part of all people, 'At least I can disguise as a PE teacher or something… Why, of all things… JANITOR?'

"All right, where can we discuss this further?" Hoji asked.

"How about my home? My parents are away from home due to business." Masato suggested, "You can spend the night there."

"_All right_. It's decided." Jiraiya said, in satisfaction that they could get the plan moving, "Lead the way, Masato."

"Okay." And thus, led by the boy, the team headed to his humble home…

* * *

Gathering in Masato's room were the boys. "Why are we here again?" Takeru asked, unsure of what has happened, "Why did Mei suddenly lock herself inside the other room?"

"I haven't even given her some uniforms belonging to my sister…" Masato said, "I think she'll look cute on those…"

"Oh, you little charmer…" Takeru teased at Masato thinking that Mei was cute.

"Speaking of which, I'm getting kinda thirsty…" Hoji said, holding his throat, "I'll go get some water. It's in the dining room, right?"

"Uh huh, go get it." Masato said to him as Hoji exited the room.

However, when he got in front of a door, he noticed that something was on the floor. On further inspection, it was a school uniform. "Huh? Where did this come from?" Hoji noted as he looked at the uniform. Just then, he noticed that there was some sort of power coming through the door, "_Oh my God. _ Maybe the monster was there?"

To be sure of that, Hoji slowly prepared his gun. While at first he tried to make a slow entry, suddenly he realized something, 'This is where Mei locked herself in! She could be in trouble…!' Thinking on his instinct, he then kicked the door open and pointed his gun inside, along with his SP License, "Get away from her now!"

Except that there was no monster. There's only Mei… down in her underwear, and apparently just unequipped a uniform for boys. "_Oh… my… God…_" Realizing that he just committed a mistake, Hoji uttered such words. However, even his nose couldn't lie and was slowly bleeding… Mei was only silent for a bit, until…

"KYAAAH!"

Hearing the scream, both Takeru and Masato; along with Jiraiya after he just exited the toilet; headed to the room, and saw Hoji being driven away, and several items such as rulers, plastic bottles, pillows were thrown at him. "Hoji, you pervert! I never thought you'd be so low to… to… to take advantage of me!"

"I told you it was a misunderstanding!" Hoji continued to protest as Mei continued to threw things off to him, until he suddenly saw her completely dressed with a school girl uniform in instant, "Huh? Since when you…?"

"And this is your punishment!" Mei finished by slapping Hoji on the cheek.

"What… just happened?" Masato asked in curiosity.

"… No idea." Takeru could only answer with such.

* * *

Eventually, as the tension died out, everyone gathered in the room and learned what's going on. "Oh… so you mean you were worried about a monster attacking me? That's so kind of you, Hoji…" Mei said, looking at Hoji after he got his face bandaged due to the punch on his cheek, "But that doesn't excuse your perversion."

"I know, I know… _Sorry._" Hoji said, holding his bandaged cheek, unable to get over why he acted impulsively like that. He was usually the 'calm, cool, collected' type, and there's only one person he knew who'd usually act with such impulsive tendencies… his partner. 'Damn it. Ban's way of thinking is rubbing on me…'

"Still, you made these all by yourself, Mei?" Takeru said, looking at the uniforms that she brought from the room, "This is impressive. How do you make them?"

"Oh, I just used my skill as a Risha Tribe Princess. Disguise." Mei explained, "In a blink of eye, I can change my costume into something else. It's just that the power cannot be abused to fulfill my personal desires, I must use it for a mission. In this case, since our mission is infiltration to a school, I made up uniforms."

"So that's where that 'weird' power I felt came from…" Hoji commented, remembering what drew him to the room in the first place.

"Whoa, you dress up like a boy too sometimes?" Jiraiya asked.

"Sometimes, yes." Mei said as she picked up a school uniform and gave it to Jiraiya, "Come on, you try it!"

"_Okay._" Jiraiya said as he tried to put on the cloth… only to realize something, "Ugh, the size's is too small…"

"Well, no wonder." Hoji said, "If you're using your disguise power, then the clothes would fit your size. Unfortunately you realize that your body stature is smaller than ours."

"Oh, is that so…" Mei was disappointed to hear it, but she didn't let herself down, "Don't worry. I know a way to fix it… Just give me tonight and by tomorrow, everything will be ready."

"Great. We can count on you, then." Takeru said, smiling. Until he noticed something, "Hm… where did Masato go?"

"Didn't he say that he's looking for something?" Hoji noted, until suddenly Masato himself arrived.

"Takeru, I found it!" Masato said as he showed a pair of clothing, which would fit a janitor, "This is my father's old working suit. He worked hard from zero to hero, so he still has this kind of outfit. I picked it up at the warehouse"

"You should be proud that your father is a hard worker." Takeru said, looking at the 'janitor cloth' despite the dusts around it, "The problem is, is this going to fit or not…?" He then tried on the cloth himself, and surprisingly, it fit. "Wow…"

"Looking impressive, Takeru!" Mei praised at it.

"For a janitor… that's _Super Cool_." Hoji commented, again with an English phrase.

"Great. Now I gotta take a bath." Takeru said, unequipping the cloth, "You don't mind if I borrow your bathroom, Masato?"

"Sure, please use it!" Masato said. And as Takeru left to take a bath, Masato then turned to Hoji, "Hoji… I gotta admit…"

"Huh? What's wrong, Masato?" Hoji asked, curious on what Masato was admitting.

"I'm like you… in terms of English." Masato said, which shocked Hoji, "In English lessons, I tend to speak like you and the native-speaking teacher doesn't really take it well…"

"Okay, okay! That's enough!" Hoji then hurriedly made Masato stop talking, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"See? I told you your broken English could get you in trouble." Jiraiya commented.

"He was dealing with a native speaker!" Hoji defended himself and thus both of them started bickering again on proper ways to use the English language, with Mei only sighing on how the boys fought over trivial matters.

* * *

And by the next day, everyone was ready. It turned out Mei used her power to create another set of clothes, in which she took its materials and knit them to the other clothes set for Hoji and Jiraiya so it could fit their bodies, in which she has measured both of their sizes. And by the next day, everything was ready, and the team headed to Moroboshi High School… with Hoji, Mei and Jiraiya posing as transfer students, while Takeru was relegated as a janitor, walking behind them.

'Why me…' Takeru grunted lowly as he saw the three walking along with Masato, greeting other students as transfer students.

"Ah! You must be the new janitor I've heard about!" Takeru was suddenly called by an older janitor behind him, a bald man with moustache, "Hm, you look kinda young for a janitor. But that doesn't matter! Come on, we got a lot of job to do!"

"Yes sir…" Takeru replied as he followed the older janitor to one of the school's toilets.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hoji and Mei coincidentally got into the same class, while Jiraiya was put in a different class, although it's the same class as Masato.

"So today you've got two new friends. They're here just for a few days, but I hope you all get along well!" The teacher said, introducing Hoji and Mei to the class, and they were met with an applause, "Okay, you two, you can introduce yourself…"

"Ahem… Well, I'm Tomasu Hoji. Nice to meet you all." Hoji started, followed by Mei.

"You can all call me 'Mei'. Pleased to meet you!"

And so, the class was quite in an uproar, on these new friends of them.

"That Hoji guy looks _handsome_! I want to _date_ him as quickly as possible!"

"Mei is so cute…!"

'Heh… too bad Jiraiya isn't here. My English is fine…' Hoji thought, hearing some of the students saying several English phrases like him, 'Just as long as I'm not dealing with native-speakers.'

"Ahem… you may take your seats over there…" The teacher said, pointing to two empty seats together.

"Thank you, teacher." Hoji said as he and Mei bowed down and headed to the empty seats. There, he whispered to Mei, 'Just remember, if you see anything abnormal, tell me quickly."

"That teacher doesn't look like him, though…" Mei commented, looking at the teacher, which looked nothing like the man in sunglasses.

"Okay, I'll give it that. Still, keep your guard up." Hoji noted, still wanting to be careful. Mei only nodded as the class session began…

* * *

"_I am Jiraiya. Nice to meet you all._" In the meantime, Jiraiya greeted his class with perfect English, which net him a big applause.

"Whoa, he's really good at English! Maybe he transferred from America?"

"Did he say 'Jiraiya'? Whoa, his parents must've been naming him after someone awesome!"

"He's gonna get along great with that native-speaking teacher…"

"Okay, quiet down with the applause, please." The teacher calmed the class down with several claps on the hand, before pointing to an empty seat near Masato, "All right, Jiraiya. You can take your seat over there."

"_Thank you, sir._" Jiraiya thanked him in English before sitting down. Then he eyed at Masato, "Not this one, huh?"

"Not this one. He taught a different lecture." Masato answered, in which Jiraiya was silent, hoping that he'd see this 'strange' teacher as he opened his bag to begin the class…

* * *

"Hey, you're working hard, kiddo!" In the toilet, the older janitors were amazed at how Takeru took his janitor job well. He cleaned the floor really well with just his mop.

"Well, thanks sir!" Takeru just gave a hearty reply as he continued his job, even though deep down, he was still bitter that he got into this job. Eventually, as he still continued cleaning the floor, the older janitors left.

Shortly after, however, someone entered the toilet he's cleaning. It's a teacher with sunglasses. Takeru pretended to be cleaning a room inside the toilet and thus entered it, but he kept an eye to the teacher. 'It's him…' Takeru recognized him as the man that was chasing Masato to the restaurant. The man merely peed on the proper place and flushed before attempting to exit the toilet. Takeru kept watching him, and just as the man passed the mirror, it's not showing the man's reflection, but rather a beast… something of a bird.

"I knew it… monster… But that doesn't feel like a Doggler monster…" Takeru wondered, trying well to remember the reflection of the mirror. As he cleaned up the dirts left behind by the man's footsteps, Takeru resolved to pursue him and know what he is up to…

Once he's done, he tried to pursue the man in sunglasses. However, he stopped by at the window and caught a glimpse of a class' PE session…

* * *

It was actually Hoji's class having a PE session, in which the students got onto a friendly match in soccer. Hoji played as the center position and was doing well in the game. In the meantime, the girls were cheering for both teams, Mei included. And obviously, she was cheering Hoji's team.

"Go go go!"

"You can do it!"

"Hoji, you're awesome!"

All girls chanted, although Mei, despite cheering for Hoji's team, tried to keep her tone neutral.

"Hey, Mei… Just a question." One of the girls asked, "Are you Hoji's girlfriend?"

"E… eh? !" Mei flustered heavily at such statement. Her face became red as a result, "N… no! I, I'm not his girlfriend, really!" She vehemently denied, trying to hide her face as a result, "Geez… this is so embarrassing…"

"Oh, really?" The girl noted, "In that case, I can still ask him out for a date… You two are really popular, you know."

"Huh? Really?" Mei was surprised hearing it.

"Oh yeah, I could hear the boys saying that you're so cute, and they also want to ask you out… For a date, of course!" The girl noted.

"Oh… oh my… I don't… know what to say…" Mei was nearly speechless about it.

"Say, there's also another hot guy transferring to another class, if you notice." The girl continued, "Says his name is Jiraiya. He looks great too…"

'Now are we cheering our friends or we're gossiping?' Mei wondered at how the conversation has taken off… until eventually the class went wild when Hoji actually scored.

"GOAL!"

"AAH! SO COOL!" And most girls cheered at Hoji as the boys of his team surrounded him to celebrate his goal, and he also took part in enjoying it. Mei only smiled looking at the event…

Until suddenly a flash of light was emitted from behind. "Who? !" Mei looked back, and she saw another girl, probably of college age, carrying a digital camera.

"All right, that should be a good photo." The girl noticed, "I see that this school still goes well after I graduated…" Until then, she noticed Mei. "Hey… I think she looks familiar…"

"Um…" Mei approached the girl, as she remembered this girl. When the Onibaba kidnapped her, this girl was the one who took portrait of her and distracted the Youkai so Takeru and Hoji could make the first strike against the Youkai, "You are…"

"Wait, so… you're that girl who's tied up by those… monster?" The girl asked, "Are you okay?"

"That's my line!" Mei said back, "Are you okay? About those… soldiers that chased you?"

"Me? Heh, no problem." The girl said in confidence, "I'm used fighting that kind of guys. It's not the Kunekune, but they're similar enough."

"Kune… kune?" Mei didn't know what kind of word that was. However, that thought was interrupted when the girl that talked to Mei approached the girl.

"AH! Jougasaki-sempai!" The girl called her, as she grabbed her arms, "It's been awhile! How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, Minami." She said, "You're doing well too, right?"

"Ah yeah, thanks to your guidance." Minami said, as she turned to Mei, who was still a little confused.

"So, uh… this is your sempai?" Mei asked.

"Yes, she graduated from this school last year." Minami said, "Let me introduce you, she is…"

"I can introduce myself, don't trouble yourself, Minami…" She said as she offered her hand to Mei, "I'm Jougasaki Chisato, an alumnus from this school. You can call me Chisato."

Mei shook her hand as she also introduced herself, "I'm called Mei."

"Huh? You have no surname?" Chisato asked.

"Yes, but please don't mind it. I'm pleased to meet you." Mei said, smiling, in which Chisato also smiled in return.

"You know Mei? Jougasaki-sempai is not just any sempai…" Minami said excitedly, "She's an incredible fighter too. In fact, she is also known as Meg—"

"Minami!" Chisato suddenly yelled, "Please don't talk about that, okay? It's the past."

"Oh… I'm sorry, sempai." Minami then apologized, her face became a bit sour at that.

"Now, now, no need to be sour. I'm not mad at you." Chisato said, "Anyway, I'll be going. Good luck in your studies!"

"Okay! I'll see you later, sempai!" Minami said as she waved her hand to the leaving Chisato.

"You looked up to her highly, Minami." Mei commented.

"Yeah. She's the reason why I'm here…" Minami said, knowing that she was once an underachiever as a freshman, but Chisato helped her in studies, saving her from the status of an underachiever. "Come on, let's go." Afterwards, Mei and Minami returned to the soccer field to watch their classmates resume their game.

* * *

In the meantime, Chisato was heading to the school once more. She was there just for a trip to re-purchase her missing memory card that she lost after the incident where she stumbled upon Onibaba's plot. She just re-purchased it in the school's digital shop, which was open moments before she graduated, near the final battle against the Nejirejia Empire with her opposing it as one of the Megarangers, Mega Yellow. The rest of the Megarangers; Date Kenta, Endou Kouichirou, Namiki Shun and Imamura Miku; has gone in different colleges. Their experience as Megarangers were unforgettable memories for them, and it would not die, as the INET let them keep their Digitizers as a keepsake and a reminder of their times together. For some reason, Chisato had a hunch that they could still transform, but she saw no use of transforming recklessly these days in the peaceful times.

She headed to the school's canteen, in order to buy small bread for a little snack in her journey later. After buying it, she headed away; ready to return to her home; as today for some reason, her college was having a break. 'Hm, that guy who scored the goal…' Chisato remembered how she watched Hoji play the game, 'He kinda reminds me of Kouichirou… just in terms of soccer play, though.'

Suddenly, she realized something. She felt like there was something odd in Hoji, 'Wait, if he's a high school boy, why does he look a bit too old? Just a transfer student? This looks a bit odd…'

Just then, she saw a figure running off. It was actually Jiraiya, but she didn't know him at all, and his face was looking away from her. He was running towards the toilet. "_Oh no, can't hold any longer…!_" He uttered in English.

"Whoa, that's some incredible English. Must be a native freshman." Chisato commented, until she noticed something on the ground… a memory card, "Wait a minute…" She then reached out for the memory card, and noticed the word 'C' in it. "Wait a sec, is this…" Chisato suddenly sounded rather worried and put the memory card inside her digital camera again. It dawned to her that this was her missing memory card.

"Oh man…! After I bought a new one, I found this back! Talk about a waste of money…" Chisato said in regret, until she wondered something… "But… how did he find this?"

Luckily for her, Jiraiya came out from the toilet, in which Chisato approached him, "Excuse me!"

"_Yes?_" Jiraiya replied, as he noticed that Chisato wasn't a student of the school for the year, "Can I help you, Miss?"

"Um, I was wondering where did you find this…" Chisato said, showing the memory card. Shocked, Jiraiya tried looking at his pocket, and realized that the memory card he was carrying was gone, "You dropped it."

"Wait, so you're the owner of the card?"

"Yes…" Chisato said as she started talking further with Jiraiya…

* * *

In the meantime, Takeru managed to catch up with the man in sunglasses. Just when the man got in front of a bulletin board, he knocked the bulletin board and suddenly, as there was nobody looking, the floor suddenly twisted into some sort of door, and when opened, it revealed a staircase below. The man entered the door, as Takeru followed him. 'A secret room like this? And formed out of such bizarre way? I got a bad feeling about this.'

* * *

While Takeru was investigating the door, Chisato walked together with Jiraiya back to his class, talking together, although they have yet to know their own alter egos.

"Yes. I'm born in America and spent my childhood over there." Jiraiya answered, though speaking in Japanese, "It doesn't mean I'm bad at Japanese, though."

"I see. So that's why you spoke English so well…" Chisato commented. However, talking with Jiraiya distracted her so much that she didn't notice that she was walking through the door on the ground. As a result, she tripped on the door handle.

"Kyaa!"

Luckily for her, Jiraiya managed to grab her before she fell, "_Are you OK_?"

"Um… yeah. Thanks, um…" Chisato answered, understanding his English language, but then realized that she hadn't introduced herself.

"My name is Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya…" Chisato muttered, realizing that he also lacked surname. But she didn't show the suspicion on it, "I'm Jougasaki Chisato."

"So that's where the 'C' come from." Jiraiya noted, remembering the 'C' word put on her memory card. Just then, he noticed on what Chisato tripped on. "This…!"

"Since when did they make such thing? !" Chisato was equally shocked at that. In the meantime, Jiraiya was confused on what to do next. He should've gone back to class, but this door looked too suspicious to not investigate. Eventually, he decided that if it did turn out to be something dangerous, he could warn the rest…

"I'll investigate this." He said as he opened the door and got in, although he forgot to close the door.

"Hey, wait!" Since Chisato was also equally worried, and the door was still open, she also entered the door.

* * *

As Takeru observed, the door led them to a rather complex laboratory. The temperature was rather cold there, but he endured it and ventured deeper and deeper, until he noticed the glassed man, looking through a crystal contained within a box in the room. "Heh heh… nobody knew…" As he spoke, his voice started to get distorted, "That in a few minutes… this school will be a new frozen hell…" As he said so, suddenly the figure of the man was gone and in place of him was a penguin-like monster, "This is the school of those blasted Megarangers that destroyed Dr. Hinelar…! And now, I, Penguin Nejire, will have revenge on behalf of the Doctor and my fallen comrades!"

"I knew you're behind this, monster!" Finally couldn't take it anymore, Takeru confronted the monster head on, "Planning vengeance on some people by freezing a whole school… I will not let it happen!"

"Who? ! Who the hell are you? !" Penguin Nejire said, turning towards Takeru, "Nobody who sees this shall live to tell the tale!"

"You'll learn soon enough." Takeru said as he prepared his Masking Brace, "**AURA MASK! RED MASK!**"

With that, he transformed into Red Mask and prepared for battle. "What? ! You'd find me here, Mega Red? !" Penguin Nejire said in shock.

"Didn't I tell you my name beforehand?" Red Mask said, "I am Red Mask! Prepare yourself!" With that, he leapt and kicked Penguin Nejire on the face, before preparing to destroy the crystal with Laser Magnum. "If I destroy this…!"

"I won't let you!" Penguin Nejire said as he swung his fist to Red Mask, knocking him away. He then opened his beak, "Now, you will freeze!" With that, he fired several ice spikes headed towards Red Mask. He was able to dodge some of them, but one of them hit his Laser Magnum and in a quick moment, it started freezing. And then, as he raised his wing, several soldiers clad in purple suit arrived, preparing to fight against Red Mask.

"Damn it…!" Red Mask said as he took a fighting stance, knowing that this might take longer than he thought.

* * *

And in the same time, when Jiraiya and Chisato were exploring the underground lab together, in a sudden, the purple soldiers arrived, as if being summoned from the inside. "_Whoa!_" Jiraiya was surprised, as he never saw such soldiers.

"The Kunekune soldiers? ! Why are they here? !" Chisato was shocked, "Wasn't the Nejirejia…!"

"Nejire… what?" Jiraiya was unfamiliar with such term, however, they didn't have time for idle chatter as the soldiers started fighting.

"This is bad." Chisato said as she kicked down a Kunekune soldier, "Jiraiya, you get out of here and warn the others upstairs! I got a bad feeling that something horrible will happen to this school!"

"Wait, what about you?" Jiraiya asked just as he punched down a Kunekune soldier.

"I'll be fine! I know these guys a lot…" Chisato said, "Hurry up! We have no time!"

"_OK._" Choosing to believe in Chisato, Jiraiya quickly ran off to the door to the surface again.

'Nejirejia Kingdom…' Chisato thought at the kingdom that she fought in the past, the Nejirejia, an interdimensional kingdom bent on twisting the Earth to its liking and taste. 'I don't know why it's back… but as long as I'm here, I'll not let it do what it likes! Especially to this school!'

Eventually, Chisato advanced forward, digging deeper towards the lab and fighting any Kunekune soldiers that came across her, until she came onto the last chamber, where suddenly she saw Red Mask being thrown off to the wall.

"Hey, isn't that…!" As Chisato saw Red Mask, she mistook him as her old friend, Mega Red, "Kenta! What are you doing here? !"

"Huh? Kenta?" Red Mask said as he got up, "I have a friend named Kenta, Miss. But I am not Kenta!"

"Well… um… then you're…" Chisato said, until she looked at Red Mask's own suit. It looked different than the Mega Suits, "Huh? It's different than the Mega Suits. Then you're not…"

"Watch out!" Suddenly, Red Mask pushed Chisato away as suddenly an ice shard was thrown to them. It hit the wall instead, and the wall quickly froze.

"What the…"

"Ha! I never expected that I'd run into you here!" Penguin Nejire exclaimed as he saw Chisato.

"A Nejire Beast? !" Chisato was shocked at what she saw. A soldier of the destroyed Nejirejia Kingdom, right in front of her, "What are you planning? !"

"Heh heh… My plan… my vengeance…" Penguin Nejire said, "Is to freeze this whole school! It's only a few minutes until this crystal activates and will freeze the school… And that is just the beginning. The world will pay for the destruction of the Nejirejia Kingdom!"

"And you are starting with this school? !" Chisato said angrily.

"Yes! For this school, it's a very personal grudge, so this school shall fall first!" Penguin Nejire said, although Red Mask didn't get what's going on.

"What… are you talking about?" He asked in confusion, "Um, Miss… do you know this person?"

"Yes. This is something I fought before." Chisato said sternly, "Now that it's back, I feel like it's my job to clean up the mess I left behind."

"Wait, don't tell me… you're…" Red Mask tried to guess her identity, but Chisato replied first.

"My name is Jougasaki Chisato. But on other times… I am known as…" As Chisato spoke such, she revealed her Digitizer on her hand and shouted…

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

With that shout, she typed the number '335' on her digitizer, and in instant, she transformed into a warrior clad in yellow suit… with the symbol of digital camera on her black circle forehead….

"Mega Yellow!"

"Megaranger… Mega Yellow…!" Red Mask uttered, finally realizing who she was.

"Okay, so all we have to do is destroy that crystal, right?" Mega Yellow said as she pointed to the crystal, "This will be over soon."

"As if I'd let you!" Penguin Nejire said as he summoned even more Kunekune soldiers and the two started fighting the Kunekune, until eventually there was only the Penguin Nejire left.

"Damn you! You will freeze to death!" Penguin Nejire said as he opened his mouth, preparing to shoot at Mega Yellow.

"That won't work again!" Red Mask yelled as he quickly punched him on the face and circled one of his arms to Penguin Nejire's neck, leaving him unable to shoot the ice spike, while the other one grabbed its beak, preventing it to open at all. "Now is your chance!"

"Okay, um… Mega Red II?" Mega Yellow said, but she wasn't sure how to refer him.

"It's Red Mask!" Red Mask corrected, "Hurry!"

"OK, I gotcha!" Mega Yellow confirmed as she unleashed her weapon… a sling, "Mega Sling!"

Thus, she shot towards the crystal. The impact caused the crystal to shatter. "I did it!" Mega Yellow cheered as eventually Red Mask let go of the monster. "In your face, Nejirejia! Your plan just got thwarted again!"

However, after a little coughing, the Penguin Nejire just laughed. "What's so funny? !" Red Mask asked.

"Ha ha ha…! Thanks for the hard work…" Penguin Nejire said, "The crystal has reached a critical time. In such time, if it was destroyed, the freezing process will still be executed! You just doomed your own school, Megaranger!"

"What…? !" Mega Yellow was shocked at the revelation, falling on her knees as a result, "What have I done…? !"

Before Red Mask could do anything further, suddenly the ground quaked again, "What? ! An earthquake…? ! Is this…!"

* * *

Meanwhile, when Jiraiya got out of the door, he met Hoji and Mei, just finished changing clothes back to their normal school uniform rather than their PE shirt.

"Huh? What are you doing here, Jiraiya?" Hoji said, also noting the door, "And what is that door?"

"We got no time!" Jiraiya said, "Something horrible is going to happen! Hurry and evacuate this school!"

"Hey, calm down a bit…" Hoji said, "Are you sure you're…"

"Ah…!" Mei suddenly gasped as she sensed something, "Jiraiya is right! We have to…" Before she could finish the sentence, however, the ground quaked.

"Whoa…!" Hoji was having trouble keeping his balance, and suddenly, he felt that the air's temperature just got high. "This drop of temperature feels abnormal…!"

"Let's hurry!" Mei suggested as they eventually ran to their class, even when the ground quaked.

The quake shortly after stopped. The ground, however started to turn into ice blocks as the whole school started to freeze. As Hoji and Mei returned to their class, they soon found out that their class as well as the students inside were frozen.

"Oh no…" Mei uttered.

"_U… Unbelievable…_" Hoji followed up, "If they were frozen, why aren't we?"

"Is it because we're not actually students here?" Mei tried to answer.

"I don't know. Let's ask Jiraiya." Hoji said as he ran towards Jiraiya's class, followed by Mei.

* * *

However, when they got there, they saw Jiraiya being tossed aside to the wall, cracking the frozen wall with a window. "Jiraiya!" Both called out, as suddenly Jiraiya said…

"Masato…! What are you doing…? !"

"Masato? !" As Hoji uttered, from the door, he saw Masato, with his body frozen, walking towards Jiraiya, his fist clenched as if trying to hit him. As if it wasn't enough, the whole class, also frozen, walked towards them as well.

"What? !" Mei was shocked looking at it, "They… they were frozen and they could still move? !"

"I think that's what happened…!" Jiraiya said, "This is no normal freezing method! Some sort of monster must be behind this!"

"To freeze a whole school like this…" Hoji said, but as he turned around, he saw students from the other class, also frozen, moving and approaching them, "They got us surrounded…!"

"I hope this works…!" Mei said, looking at the window where Jiraiya was thrown onto. She pulled out her bow and arrow, took aim and shot at the crack on the wall, breaking it and leaving it open, "Come on, let's get out of here for now!"

Both boys agreed and the three jumped out of the school. However, the school's courtyard was also frozen. Just when they were near the frozen gate, the ground quaked a bit, until it suddenly shattered, and from it, Red Mask and Mega Yellow were thrown out of the ground.

"Takeru!" The three called out as Red Mask was able to get up.

"Guys…! Be careful…!" Red Mask said, looking around the school, "The school's freezing…"

"So that's your name, huh… 'Takeru'." Mega Yellow commented.

"Uh, yeah. That's my only name. Don't complain about my lack of surname." Red Mask said.

"I see…" Mega Yellow said until she noticed Hoji, Mei and Jiraiya as well, "Jiraiya! Mei! And… um… the other one?"

"Not 'the other one'. Tomasu Hoji!" Hoji corrected, "Though, you can call me Hoji."

"That voice… Chisato? !" Mei recognized her voice.

"Well, um…" Mega Yellow was hesitant to tell the truth, but Red Mask only nodded at her, assuring her that it's okay, "Yes, it's me. Chisato. This is my form as a Megaranger, called Mega Yellow."

"Megaranger…" Hoji uttered, as he knew that it was on the History Book as well.

"I'm sorry, Chisato, I was… too late." Jiraiya said, "I was unable to evacuate anyone…"

Just then, suddenly the Penguin Nejire jumped through the hole and said, "Hahaha… this frozen school will be your grave. Now, behold the other specialty Penguin Nejire!"

As he flapped his wing, snowmen suddenly appeared from the ground, and materialized, into fearsome soldiers under Penguin Nejire. "Get them! Now!"

"All right, you all stand back!" Mega Yellow said, "I will make this jerk pay for freezing MY school!"

"No need for that, we can also take care of ourselves. We must stop them." Hoji said as he prepared his SP License, "Change Standby. Guys, let's get ready."

"OK!" Mei and Jiraiya nodded as they pulled out their transformation trinkets…

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

With that, the three transformed, surprising even Mega Yellow. "Whoa, whoa, whoa… this is…" She said in awe, reliving her fights in the past. To her surprise, the additions of the new warriors made the five has the same color scheme with the Megarangers; Red, Black, Blue, Yellow and Pink.

"Who the hell are you three? !" Penguin Nejire said, "Don't you realize you're fighting the great Penguin Nejire of the Nejirejia Kingdom? !" Which prompted the three to introduce themselves.

"Pursue mysterious cases…! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Bah, one Megaranger and four Megaranger knockoffs can't beat me!" Penguin Nejire said as he flapped his wings, "Get them!"

"OK, that's enough talk! Let's go!" Red Mask said as the other four engaged in the snowmen soldiers.

* * *

Eventually, most of the snowmen soldiers were finished. "You're the last one!" Red Mask said as he turned towards Penguin Nejire. However, when he looked at him, the Penguin Nejire had the frozen humans shielding him. "What…? !"

"Hehehe… You want to kill me?" Penguin Nejire boasted, "They are under my control and will shield me from danger. You attack them, you kill them."

"Dirty little…!" Deka Blue growled at such cowardly act, as Ptera Ranger, Ninja Black and Mega Yellow noticed that their friends were amongst the frozen humans.

"Masato…!"

"Minami…!"

"Well, what will you do then? Can you still face me?" Penguin Nejire said as it opened its mouth. "In that case…"

Before he could shoot out the ice spike again, once again the ground quaked. "What? !" Penguin Nejire gulped in shock. However, Red Mask, Deka Blue, Ptera Ranger, Ninja Black and Mega Yellow weren't even lucky. The ground where they stood suddenly shattered and they continue to fall down, eventually to the core of the Earth itself.

When the quake stopped, Penguin Nejire couldn't find them. Thinking that it's his triumph, he laughed, "Hahaha! Those pesky rangers are gone! Now, time to freeze the whole world, as planned…" With that, he walked away, carrying along the frozen human army.

What happened to the five warriors? Had they completely be defeated? Where did the hole take them? Meanwhile, without any rangers to handle such, Penguin Nejire's rampage couldn't be stopped… Will they be able to make a comeback?

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: Of course our heroes are not dead. They'll be back next chapter. The problem is... will they make it in time? At any rate, since I gave you a hint that Chisato is the Yellow warrior since the previous chapter, I guess it's a giveaway. Apologies if this chapter has less actions. But I hope you enjoy. Send in the reviews and constructive criticisms!


	6. Formation of the Super Sentai Part 2

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Sorry for the long delay. Something threw me off completely that I was in a bit of despair. But I'm back, and hopefully completely on track. This chapter might be a bit... less quality, but I hope you enjoy anyway**  
**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY ON CHAPTER 5  
**

* * *

_Takeru, AKA Red Mask of the Maskman, was thrown into a bizarre world whereas various future Super Sentai warriors like him existed as well as finding the book 'History of Super Sentai'. He encountered four warriors; Tomasu Hoji (Deka Blue), Mei (Ptera Ranger), Jiraiya (Ninja Black) and Chisato (Mega Yellow); but on their first battle, something went bad and they were thrown to the deeps of the Earth… what fate befell them?_

* * *

**CHAPTER 6: Formation of the Super Sentai Part 2  
**

* * *

"_Takeru? Takeru?"_

"_Huh? What…?" Takeru mumbled, trying to open his eyes. To his surprise, he was back in the Sugata Racing Team quarter, lying on a bed. By his side were his friends; Kenta, Akira, Haruka and Momoko; along with Chief Sugata, and even Princess Iyal herself. "Everyone…? Mi… Princess Iyal?"_

"_Ah thank goodness, you're awake." Chief Sugata said with a smile on his face, "You were knocked unconscious after you defeated that stray Doggler monster."_

"_We came as fast as we could when we heard the news." Kenta explained._

"_You got me worried a lot, Takeru!" Akira said, "But thank goodness you're OK."_

"_Thanks, guys…" Takeru said as he tried to get up, "But… Princess? Is this… true?"_

"_Yes. It is." Iyal said, "That Space Doggler was only one of the people unsatisfied with the peaceful new Tube Empire. Takeru, I'm sorry to drag you for this, but… will you help us? We were still reconstructing the mess left behind by Zeba, our hands are tied in this."_

"_Of course I will help, Princess." Takeru nodded with a determined smile, answering, "You guys are in this too, right?" Turning towards the rest of the Maskmen, Takeru asked._

"_Yes." All the Maskmen nodded._

"_So it looks like the Maskman Force is reborn." Chief Sugata commented, "Let's begin…" Unfortunately, before they could walk further, suddenly Iyal fell to the ground, clutching her chest in pain._

"_Princess!" Both Haruka and Momoko approached her, trying to help her stand, "Are you okay?"_

"_Agh! Aaah…! It… it hurts…! My chest…!" However, all those didn't help as Iyal's condition got worse and worse._

"_Princess! Hang in there!" Takeru hurried to hold her and tried to put her on the bed he was just lying at. _

"_Takeru…" Iyal said weakly, and suddenly, a phenomenon occurred… her body, starting from her legs, started to vanish into nothingness._

"_Princess Iyal…! No…!" Takeru got really desperate at what happened, eventually calling out to her human name, "MIO!"_

"_Takeru…!" Iyal could only utter Takeru's name until she completely vanished._

"_MIO! NOOOO!" Takeru screamed as loud as he could, witnessing the events. Once again he completely failed to save her, and this time, it looked like he would be separated forever._

"_Urgh…!" Suddenly, Chief Sugata also clutched, experiencing the same pain, as well as his body also vanishing._

"_Not you too, Chief!" Kenta hurried to the Chief's side, trying to make sure he's all right. However, he was too late. Eventually Sugata also vanished._

"_What is happening here!" Haruka said in confusion, "This is no normal ninja trick…! It's as if… ACK!" Before she could say anything, it was then her turn to feel the pain._

"_Haruka!" Momoko managed to grab her before she fell, but even then, her legs started to vanish, and the vanishing crept up, moving on to her body, "Haruka, no… please…!"_

"_Momoko…" Haruka's strength was slowly drained as she started to vanish, "Help… me…" Eventually she also completely vanished._

"_Haruka…!" Momoko fell to her knees and both her hands, after witnessing her very best friend vanishing in front of her eyes._

'_At that time, I don't think I feel pain like this…' Takeru said, recalling how he was thrown into the other world, 'Are they just thrown to the other world…? Or perhaps…'_

"_GAAH!" Before he could draw into a conclusion, he heard both Kenta and Akira screaming in pain, their bodies also vanishing._

"_Kenta! Akira!" Takeru called them out as he tried to hold them. But no matter how tight he held their hands, they still vanished. "No way…" Takeru said in disbelief, "What in the world is happening! Is it another of those Doggler monsters!"_

_Just then, however, a big scream was heard from the outside of the room. Both Takeru and Momoko hurried to the window, and witnessed many people also suffering the same effect. They experienced extreme pain and slowly vanished. "So it's not just us…!" Takeru uttered, looking at the people's suffering, "You'll pay for this, Doggler Monster…!" In rage, he uttered, remembering how his friends and even his former lover vanish thanks to this very same phenomenon._

_However, it just got worse…_

"_Ah…!" Suddenly, Momoko clutched her head, feeling an extreme pain._

"_N… not you too, Momoko!" Takeru said in disbelief, getting himself near Momoko, and trying to comfort her._

"_Takeru… I… I'm done for…" Momoko said, as her pain didn't subside and she knew that her time has come; she would end up like the rest._

"_Don't say things like that!" Takeru said, and suddenly, he hugged Momoko as tight as he could. She was his only friend at this point, he didn't want to lose even more, "I'll get to the bottom of this…! Just hold on! I'll save you all!"_

"_Takeru… thank you…" Momoko could only say weakly and as Takeru realized, only her upper body remained, which caused him to hug her tighter._

"_I'll never let go, Momoko! Don't… don't vanish on me…!" Takeru started to beg, fearing that he'll be left alone forever._

"_It's been fun… And I'm sorry…" As Momoko said that, a single tear fell from her cheek as eventually her whole body vanished, and what remained was just her tear, falling to the ground._

"_No… this… this isn't happening…" Takeru said in utter despair. His friends gone, people vanishing and dying and he couldn't do anything. And it's only a matter of time until it's his turn. Lamenting his own weakness, he mustered all his voice and let out a scream as loud as he could…_

"_**NOOOOO!"**_

* * *

"**NOOOO!" **With that scream, Takeru suddenly woke up again. It was then he realized that everything wasn't real, "A nightmare…" He said, breathing heavily, as sweats run through his head. He realized that he was in some sort of base, lying on the floor, but the base looked really strange to him, he's never been in such base. Computers were around; and the technology of the room seemed to be very advanced compared to those from his age.

'What happened…? Oh, yes…' Takeru then started remembering where he was before his dream. He was fighting a monster claiming to be from Nejirejia Kingdom, who froze an entire school and used all the frozen people as his puppets. Before he and his friends could react, a hole was created out of the ground and they fell into it. "Oh yeah, where did they all…?" Takeru then remembered his new friends and looked around. Thankfully for him, he saw Hoji, Mei, Jiraiya and Chisato all lying on the ground near him.

"Hey, guys…" Takeru called out, "Wake up…"

"Ouch… my head…" Chisato was the first to get up, clutching her head. Shortly after, everyone started to get back on their feet.

"At least it's a relief that everyone is safe…" Mei commented, looking that every of the Sentai warriors weren't hurt.

"Wait, where's this?" Hoji said as he looked around the room, witnessing various computers and gadgets available in it, "This technology… Even the Deka Base loses out to this…"

"Welcome… Super Sentai." Suddenly, a voice rang, shocking pretty much everyone.

"_Who's there!_" Jiraiya yelled out, readying a shuriken in hand just in case there's someone who's planning a nefarious thing to them. When he looked behind, however, a projector located at a table suddenly projected something in front of them… a man.

"Greetings, Super Sentai." The man greeted, "Pleased to meet you all. I am called Hiroaki."

"Hiroaki…? Super Sentai?" Takeru asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Of course I know what I'm talking about." Hiroaki answered, "You're all Super Sentai. Task forces that protected the world throughout the times. I know that you're all part of the Super Sentai… Hikari Sentai Maskman, Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, Denji Sentai Megaranger… am I correct?"

"I'll have to admit that you are suspicious, knowing a lot from that." Hoji commented as he approached Hiroaki, "You had better tell us who you are really…" He then tried to hold Hiroaki on the collar, but found out that his hand went through Hiroaki's body, which revealed the truth, "A hologram…!"

"Wait, if that's a hologram…" Chisato was shocked looking at it, "How come it's speaking to us as if it's a real person? I never thought technology has advanced this much… not even INET or Nejirejia could get this kind of technology!"

"That's because I am from another world, being a close ally of AkaRed." Hiroaki said, "I am his other assistant, helping commander ShiroWhite and AkaRed himself fighting against Rufecil."

'AkaRed…?' Takeru wondered. He did read about a part where a figure named AkaRed was in the History of Super Sentai book, appearing on the 30th battle between Super Sentai against evil. Just then, he saw a copy of the book itself located at a table nearby. "Wait just a sec… are you the one who gave this to me?" Takeru said, pointing out to the table.

"You can say that." Hiroaki answered.

"Then this is not a coincidence." Takeru said, "You set us up to gather here. Taking us from various timelines… What is your purpose?"

"Also… this 'Rufecil' you spoke about…" Mei asked, already having a bad feeling on the name itself, "What kind of evil is it?"

"You will learn soon. But first, this Rufecil." Hiroaki said, "He is our archenemy, the embodiment of all evil in the universe. We all draw energies from your universe. In short, energy generated from how you Super Sentai fight against your enemies. We drew power from your fighting spirits, while Rufecil drew power from the villains' spirits. Thankfully for the world, you all continue to prevail, so we could prevail against Rufecil."

"Hm… If that's the case…" Chisato continued, "Then Rufecil should've been beaten. Is he coming back that you'd call us here?"

"Rufecil cannot be destroyed. As long as there is evil in mankind's heart, he will always return. And when he does… we have to fight again to keep him at bay." Hiroaki answered.

"I see…" Takeru noted as he looked at the rest, "So we are the hopes for humanity. You all are my successors, after the Tube Empire was defeated, there are more evils in the future and you take my mantle to fight against it."

"And after my era, there are more protectors." Hoji noted, as he knew that there are such teams that succeeded him such as the Magirangers that fought alongside him and the Dekarangers at one time.

"Yes… Thanks to your efforts, we always prevailed." Hiroaki said, smiling, "Shortly after AkaRed came to the your world, we devised a plan that would keep Rufecil sealed longer that he would never return, so we could rebuild our ruined world. And that plan is… to separate the key to the seal of Rufecil into two keys and send one of them to the world. The key is responsible of adjusting the power level of the seal, it is now set to the highest level available that no man without the key could lower it nor break it."

"_Wait_." Jiraiya suddenly interrupted, "What happened to this world? Why am I the only Kakuranger? What happened to the rest?"

"Yes, I was about to ask that too." Takeru added, remembering his previous fight against the Space Doggler and how he was separated with Momoko, "What happened to the rest of the Maskmen? I must've gotten them worried…"

"This is because an abnormality has occurred somewhere in the future, and we noticed it too." Hiroaki calmly answered, "It was some sort of masked man, who claims to be 'Just passing through'…"

'Masked… man?' Takeru had no idea of what Hiroaki said. He was probably talking about the interference of Kamen Rider Decade, somewhere around the timeline of Shinkengers. But Takeru had no idea about that. "Anyway… what's the effect of this abnormality?"

"Rufecil was able to sneak parts of his essence to your world." Hiroaki said as he walked around, "With that, he was able manipulate time and space, creating a new universe that are based on yours… and that only one member of the Sentai warrior would be present."

"Eh! So… that's why Pteranodon said that my friends couldn't come!" Mei was shocked at hearing that, "No way…"

"They're not dead, thankfully. They just stay in the normal universe, while you get picked into this one universe to represent the Zyurangers. This is an alternate universe, which is similar to the default one. Events that happened in your universe also happened in this universe. However… those dream you had before…" What Hiroaki said next shocked Takeru.

"You know my dream!" Takeru said, worried.

"Indeed. I apologize for making you see that dream, but it is necessary…" Hiroaki said, "For it will be what befell to the people on your actual world if you let people die here."

"What will happen?" Jiraiya asked, at which Takeru was silent for awhile before he opened his mouth.

"In my dream… People started vanishing after experiencing a lot of pain." Takeru uttered, "Does it happen when people here die?"

"Yes. It is what will happen. Though you will not meet your friends here…" Hiroaki said, "But the lives of the innocents are still at stake. Don't think that just because this is an alternate universe, you can be lenient. People's life is still at stake here."

"Who in the world would let that be!" Hoji protested, "We're not as petty to ignore those who needs help, just because they're not of our world. Don't you guys agree?" On Hoji's question, everyone pretty much nodded.

"I agree with that, but…" Chisato asked, "What are we supposed to do here? Do we have to defeat Rufecil here?"

"No. Rufecil is not here. However, there are something else you can do in order to complete your mission." Hiroaki said, "According to how AkaRed and ShiroWhite planned it… There are two seals, one that can be seen by those belonging to the teams Zyuranger to Shinkenger, but cannot be activated by them, and vice versa to the other one. That is what lies here."

"Two seals…?" Takeru asked.

"Yes. AkaRed has secured one of them." Hiroaki then said something that shocked everyone, "Which means, you only need to find the seal here."

"And that's why you need us." Takeru said.

"Yes, Takeru." Hiroaki nodded, pointing to him, "You are able to find this world's seal, while your friends here are able to activate them for you. When you do activate the seal on this ship, you will be transported to AkaRed's realm, so together, the key are one and we will be able to repair the error caused by the abnormality that made Rufecil's essence get spread onto the worlds. Are you with me?"

"That means… banding together with Takeru to find the key's seals?" Chisato asked.

"Yes, you can do it. You can combine your powers to achieve your goal. After all, you ARE the Super Sentai." Hiroaki gave an answer.

"Can we do it?" Mei wondered.

"We are of different teams. Many of our old tricks will not work… We'll have to adapt." Jiraiya added.

"Well, even so… I'm not giving up." Takeru said sternly, "I know what would happen if we stand idly. Maybe you did not receive that dream… but I know it might happen and we cannot let that be. Besides… if we do not do it, how are we able to come home? We may worry our friends on the other side!"

"Takeru is right." Hiroaki said, "You all came from different timelines, different teams, but deep down, you are the same. You are Super Sentai. You can work together and achieve your goal. It's time to put aside your differences and work together as a team."

"Is that so…" Hoji said, "Then… very well. We'll fight."

"That's very good." Hiroaki nodded, as the team looked at him, "I'm pretty sure you'd turn out into a fine team. Use this ship as you like as your base of operations. They will provide you everything you need." As he spoke, suddenly he started vanishing, "Best of luck to you, Super Sentai…"

"Well… there goes the hologram…" Chisato commented, "Now what do we do… AH!" Just then, she remembered something… the Penguin Nejire hasn't been defeated. "What about that Nejire Beast! It's not beaten yet! At this rate…"

"We'll have to think of a way to lure him away from his frozen human soldiers." Hoji noted, "But… a mass fire wouldn't do the job. I just knew."

"He must've known the weakness." Mei noted, "Only problem is how we will leak it."

"Hey, I've got an idea." Jiraiya said, "That Nejire Beast… seems like he's bent on vengeance on the Megarangers, right?"

"Now that I think about it…" Takeru uttered, remembering just how many times the Penguin Nejire tried to 'exact vengeance on the Megarangers', "Yeah, that seems to be the way it is."

"You're saying that we have to take advantage of that?" Hoji asked, before looking at Chisato, "Hm… I see…"

"Ah yes, I think this would do great!" Mei also nodded, adding a naughty smile, followed with Takeru and Jiraiya all glaring at Chisato, who had a nervous smile planted on her face in retaliation.

"W… why is everybody looking at me?"

* * *

"Hahaha! The world is freezing!" Penguin Nejire said as he launched more and more ice spikes towards the surroundings, be they trees or buildings. In a short time, anything that he passed would turn into frozen things. Following him were the frozen humans. In each time he froze buildings, all humans inside him would become his doll.

Just then, however, suddenly someone arrived in front of him. It was Jiraiya, carrying a bag made of rags. "_Stop!_" He yelled, urging the Penguin Nejire to stop.

"Huh? Ooh, you're one of those… Megaranger knockoffs… aren't you!" Penguin Nejire said, as he opened his mouth, "Do you really want to die that badly!"

"_No, no._ I give up…" Jiraiya said, begging and bowing his head, "I cannot win against you. Please, let me join your ranks so I can live."

"Join my ranks!" Penguin Nejire said, "How bold! But what's your proof of loyalty to me!"

"Well, this is my proof." Jiraiya said as he opened the bag, which revealed Chisato, with her hands tied behind her back, along with her body and legs. And to be extra sure, he had her mouth gagged as well.

"Ohoo! So you caught the real Megaranger!" Penguin Nejire said happily as he approached Chisato before picking her up on her shoulders, "Very well! You're in! Follow me!"

"_Yes sir…_" Jiraiya answered with a bow as he followed the Penguin Nejire… until there was a yell from behind.

"Wait a minute, Jiraiya!"

It turned out that Takeru, Hoji and Mei were after him as well. "What are you doing! Is this what we agreed on!" Takeru yelled out.

"Traitor…! How dare you call yourself someone who protects justice!" Hoji condemned at him, pointing towards him.

"Please, just let go of Chisato!" Mei also begged at him, but Jiraiya only gave a cold face as he threw several shurikens to their legs, and although they dodged, they ended up stepping on the ground where there is a rope put behind them, and the ropes ended up tying their legs and got them hanged upside down.

"_See you again._" As Jiraiya noted in English, he left together with the Penguin Nejire.

"Come back here, damn it! Jiraiya!" Takeru yelled out.

"Mmmgh! Mmmmghh! Mmgh!" Chisato then tried to call out for her friends, despite being gagged.

"Chisato!" Mei gave out one last call, until all of them were out of their sight.

* * *

The Penguin Nejire has set up his base on one of the frozen buildings located near Moroboshi High School. Inside that building was many frozen humans, turned into a soldier for him. Once he got inside, he opened a door on the ground, which served as some sort of well prison and threw Chisato in there. "Your death will be slow and painful, Megaranger." He said. "First, this well will be filled with cold water that will drown you. And as you shiver from the cold and drown, I will freeze the whole body of water, including you. You will die frozen forever, starting today. Do you have any last words?"

Chisato attempted to response with, "How am I supposed to say it when I'm gagged! Screw you!", but all that came out was muffled sounds.

"No last words, I suppose… Then enjoy your slow death!" As Penguin Nejire said it, he flipped a switch as water started to enter the ground where Chisato was imprisoned, instilling fear on her face as the Penguin Nejire laughed. In the same time, he was approached by Jiraiya.

"Master Penguin Nejire. Your method of frozen human soldiers is incredible." Jiraiya said, "I'd like to help increase the effect of it."

"Ah, now that's my kind of follower! Always helping!" Penguin Nejire said, tapping on his shoulders, "Come with me! You can help with this!"

* * *

Taking Jiraiya along, the Penguin Nejire went to a chamber where a crystal sphere resembling a human heart was located.

"What is this?" Jiraiya asked.

"Ah yeah, this is where I draw my power." Penguin Nejire said, "Thanks to the destruction of the Nejirejia Kingdom, I have to recharge here at times. If left too long like this, then I may even lose control to my frozen human soldiers…"

"Oh, this must've been an important item." Jiraiya said, "I will guard it with my life."

"Urrgh…" Suddenly, Penguin Nejire said as he held his stomach, "I'm running out of energy. I have to recharge!" As he said that, he approached the sphere, which has a room below it, which is probably to recharge power.

"So important…" Jiraiya uttered, before his eyes suddenly shifted into determination, "Too bad it's not staying for long!" As he said that, he tossed several shurikens towards the crystal sphere. It's no normal shurikens, however, it's shurikens attached with explosives, which utterly destroyed the crystal.

"What! What have you…!" Penguin Nejire said in shock as he turned towards Jiraiya.

"I am a ninja. Stealth sneaking is my specialty, fake switching allegiances is always an option to me." Jiraiya said, smirking at him, "So consider yourself suckered."

"You traitor…!" Penguin Nejire said before he got an idea, "But this way, I'll just have to speed up my plan to kill that Megaranger! Even if my power is lacking, I'll have enough to freeze her to death!" He then ran towards the door, but before he could get out, he received a kick on the face, from none other than Chisato, now already freed.

"You were saying?" Chisato taunted.

"You! How did you…!"

"Well, you just fell for it." Chisato explained, "Jiraiya didn't tie me up tight enough. He loosened up on purpose so I can free myself when the time comes. And the reason why I got caught? It's because we need someone to get closer to you to find your weak spot. And thank goodness it worked without hitch! Good thing you hated the Megarangers so much…"

"So you're just a bait…!" Penguin Nejire said, before coughing further, "AH! I'm losing control…!"

"You got that right!" Suddenly, Takeru, Hoji and Mei entered the room as well, with Hoji stating further, "Now your ace is gone. You're done for."

"You'll pay for endangering all those innocent people!" Mei added.

"You… but I won't be beaten here!" Penguin Nejire insisted as he rushed forward. In the same time, however, the surrounding ice of the building started thawing. Takeru instead delivered a karate side kick to Penguin Nejire's head, knocking him down.

"Right now we better evacuate the thawed people out of this place!" Takeru commanded the rest and they all nodded, as they started evacuating the people that have been unthawed.

* * *

Eventually, as everyone got out safely, Penguin Nejire confronted them outside the building, along with several Kunekune soldiers. "You think you can beat me! I'm far from beaten! What can you knockoffs do!"

"Knock offs? We're more than just knock offs!" Takeru said, as he turned to the rest of his teammates, "Everyone… let's go!"

"OK!" Hoji nodded as he prepared his SP License, knowing that the new base provided several Deka Particles that he could use to transform, after Deka Base was leveled, and the rest prepared to transform as well… "Change Standby…"

"**AURA MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

As such, all five transformed, and prepared to introduce themselves in front of the monster.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

As they finished their name calls, Red Mask then started saying a rousing sentence… "Even though we are from the different time and team… We are still united as one!"

"We are…!" Eventually, the five yelled out, stating their new identity, "**SUPER SENTAI!**"

"Super… Sentai…!" Penguin Nejire could feel his power detoriating further and used his last ounces of strength to command his soldiers, "Get them… guys!"

"Let's go!" On Red Mask's command, the Super Sentai ran forward to fight against the Kunekune soldiers. Slowly, they started working alongside each other, putting aside differences of their origins to reach the same goal: Defeat the enemy!

"Hm, I could get used to this…" Deka Blue said as he knocked down a Kunekune soldier with his fist.

"_Hey, behind you_!" Ninja Black said as he suddenly leapt, his hand suddenly attached with a hand bow. "Black Bow!"

Thanks to the warning, Deka Blue turned back and quickly shot to that direction with his D-Sniper. The arrows hit several approaching Kunekune soldiers, while the sniper shot hit the Penguin Nejire itself. "Whoa." Ninja Black applauded at Deka Blue's accuracy and instinct.

"Planned to shoot him any time sooner." Deka Blue answered, shrugging, before more Kunekune soldiers surrounded them and they fought with their close range weapons.

And in the meantime, both ladies, Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow were surrounded with many Kunekune soldiers, "Oh boy, we're surrounded." Mega Yellow said, but her arms are still ready to fight, "Hey, um… You only have the bow, right? We're too close against them for ranged attacks. So…"

"Oh, don't you worry about me." Ptera Ranger assured her, "My bow is bladed. I can fight close range as good as I am at long range." Thus as the Kunekune soldiers rushed to attack them, they fought their way out, covering their backs in the same time. "Wow, how did you do that?" Ptera Ranger was amazed on how well Mega Yellow fought.

"Well, it's…" Before Mega Yellow could finish, however, the Penguin Nejire poised to attack them.

"Prepare to die, Megaranger!" The Penguin Nejire yelled as he launched another ice spike. However, due to the Nejire being weakened, the ice spike was slower in speed.

"BLADE ARM!" Mega Yellow then activated one of her skills, covering her hand with energy that made the hand as sharp as a sword and swung her hand towards the ice spike, cutting it in two, before turning for more talk with Ptera Ranger. "Like that."

"Damn it, damn it! I haven't…!" Penguin Nejire whined, still thinking that he could win.

"Just admit that you've lost! LASER MAGNUM!" As Red Mask shut him up, he shot down the creature with his gun sidearm and had him knocked away for a sec.

"Gah…! If only there is… that Bibidebi…!" Penguin Nejire lamented as he tried to get up.

"Bibidebi…?" Mega Yellow suddenly remembered the small creature that used to bite most Nejire Beasts to turn them into huge creatures whereas the Galaxy Mega had to fight against, "Wait, if he's not here… Let's finish him now!"

"I know." Red Mask nodded as the rest of the Super Sentai gathered before him, "That's why I'll need your strength."

"Beforehand…" Deka Blue suddenly stepped forward, showing his SP License, "Penguin Nejire! For freezing a good chunk of the city for your own twisted desire of revenge, and freezing hundreds of humans and turning them into for your own selfish desires! Judgment!"

The ultimate court then started deciding whether the deletion of Penguin Nejire was allowed or not. However, it amazed several of the members.

"_Whoa. _What is that?" Ninja Black said, as this was the first time he saw the Judgment Time.

"I'm a detective. I'm asking the ultimate court for the ultimate verdict… allow deletion or not." Deka Blue explained, "And deletion here means… him being destroyed."

"Oh my, that was… advanced." Mega Yellow commented, "I never thought that in the future that you came from, you can have a portable jury system."

"Well it's what space police like me do." Deka Blue said as eventually the verdict was announced. And of course it was a Red X. "Delete Approved!"

"Right! Hit it with what you got! I'll go last for the finisher." Red Mask said as he put his hand in meditation gesture, in order to increase his strength, "MEDITATION!"

"All right then!" Ptera Ranger said as she prepared her bow, "Prepare yourself! PTERA ARROW!"

In the same time, however, Deka Blue leapt behind Ptera Ranger and lunged towards Penguin Nejire with his D-Rod ready. "BLUE FINISH!" With it, he slashed down the Penguin Nejire several times and rolled sideways before the arrow went through his body.

In the meantime, Mega Yellow ran forward and prepared her hand for an attack, "BLADE ARM!" With it, she delivered several fast chops which damaged the Penguin Nejire.

"Ninpo: Rock Fall!" Ninja Black didn't move forward, but he casted a ninjutsu spell which caused several boulders to rain to the Penguin Nejire, sending him into confusion and eventually a big rock was dropped on his head, planting his feet on the ground, making him unable to move.

"Meditation finished…!" Red Mask said as he ran forward, his hand glowing, ready to punch the monster on the head. "GOD HAND!" With the yell, he punched the monster on the head, going through the monster itself and as he pulled away his fist, the monster exploded.

"All right! We did it!" Ptera Ranger cheered at the victory and the team gathered together. However, suddenly the sky turned dark and the thunder roar. "This is…!"

"No way…" Red Mask uttered, remembering that this was quite the similar phenomenon that occurred last time, "It's just like before…!"

Just then, suddenly a gust of wind blew through Red Mask himself and he started receiving several cuts, "ARGH! Damn…!" Just as Red Mask got up, however, he realized something, "Wait, I recognize this technique…!"

"So… You remembered." Suddenly a voice rang out of nowhere, and to Red Mask's shock, he found a familiar face walking to him. A figure with long red hair, covered with white armor and wielding a chain scythe.

"Thief Knight Kiros! You are alive!" Red Mask stated his name.

"Yes. I came back from Hell itself." Kiros said, his voice suddenly starting to get murderous further and further, "To kill you personally, Red Mask!"

"Huh? Takeru…" Ptera Ranger asked, "Is he your enemy?" She didn't have time to wait for his answer as suddenly she saw a huge boulder rolling behind Deka Blue, "Hoji, watch out!" With it, she pushed away Deka Blue, sending him away from being squished with it.

"What was that!" Deka Blue said, shocked with the boulder trying to squish him out of nowhere. But from the dark skies, Ptera Ranger could witness something… Several scorpions were there as well.

"Scorpions! Wait…" Ptera Ranger noticed that she recognized such boulder pattern. As if confirming to her fears, the boulder suddenly shaped into a woman with golden scorpion armor, "Lamie!"

"Well, it's been awhile… Ptera Ranger…" The woman, indeed being one of Bandora's servants, Lamie, spoke, getting near Kiros, "But I do hope you've prepared your coffin, because I want you dead."

'Why?' Ptera Ranger thought, 'Bandora was sealed, but how could Lamie escape…! Why is she doing this… what does this have to do with Bandora?'

In a sudden, however, both Ninja Black and Mega Yellow were slashed from behind, knocking them down on the ground, "Urgh…! You…!" Both of them said the same thing as they looked up, noticing who hit them… and learning their identity shocked them further as they realized that the ones who hit them should be dead.

"Gasha… Dokuro…!" Ninja Black said to one of the hitters, a skull demon wielding a sword, with his bones having army camouflage.

"I'm glad you noticed, Kakuranger…" Gasha Dokuro said, laughing, "By killing you and the rest of the Sentai… I will surpass my father, and show him the error of abandoning me to die back then!"

The one who hit Mega Yellow, on the other hand, was a woman. Her hair was unnaturally blue, and she was wielding a blue armor. "Shibolena…? You're…"

"Yes, I have returned." Shibolena said, also giggling along the way, "Megaranger… you destroyed my family. I'll have my revenge… on you, and the rest of those… Super Sentai!"

"Wait, so these are… your past enemies brought back to life!" Deka Blue said, looking at the rest of the Super Sentai, "Who brought them back…? But perhaps they were not deleted, so…"

"Not even deletion could prevent us to be restored." Suddenly, a familiar voice to Deka Blue was heard, which shocked him to the core. In a sudden, however, a swarm of bats started to fly, going through Ptera Ranger. Deka Blue instinctively just pushed her away, the same way she did to him before.

"Thank you…" Ptera Ranger said.

"Just paying back what you did before." Deka Blue replied as he looked at where the swarm of bats flew… to the side of Kiros, Lamie, Gasha Dokuro and Shibolena. "I'm more worried on who that voice belonged to…" Just then, the bat swarm formed a creature, a bat creature with its head on a tube, "_Unbelievable… _You were deleted… you shouldn't be able to be back here… but how come… Agent Abrellar…!"

"Hoho… So you still remembered." Abrellar said, "Well, I suppose with these people on group, I will be able to generate much more profit. Though for now, I will make an exception. I want you and the rest of the Super Sentai… dead. Or else, someone like you would bother me again."

"How are you able to return…!" Red Mask asked.

"That information for now is classified, Red… what again?" Abrellar then turned to Kiros, as he wasn't familiar with anyone not with the Dekarangers.

"Red Mask." Kiros gave a short answer.

"Ah yes, Red Mask… and the rest of you Super Sentai." Abrellar then continued before all of them started taking some steps back, "Remember, this is only a greeting… Next time, I'll make sure you're dead." As Abrellar's devilish chuckle, followed with the rest's laughing echoed, they all vanished, and the sky returned to normal again.

Eventually the Super Sentai unmorphed and as Takeru pulled out a switch that he kept from his pocket and pressed it, prompting a circle on the ground to appear, sending the Super Sentai underground.

* * *

Thus the team discussed their respective enemies when they arrived at their base.

"Cruel… So that is why…" Chisato noted, when Jiraiya told her about Gasha Dokuro, and how he slew one friendly Youkai that Jiraiya befriended.

"_Yes_. I'll never forgive him. And I thought I got rid of him good…" Jiraiya noted.

"What! A man spreading war just for fun or profit…!" Mei was also shocked when Hoji told her about just how brutal Abrellar was, "I don't know much about this 'black market' business you told me, but that's just cruel! Even Bandora never went that far…!"

"I'd presume that those villains would become Abrellar's clients." Hoji also noted, "He's got himself a steady source of income this way. We'll have to be careful." Then, he looked at Takeru, "How about you, Takeru? Any information you can share about this… Thief Knight Kiros?"

"All I know that he wanted to kill me." Takeru said shortly. He didn't understand Kiros' motives now. He saw it with his own eyes that Princess Iyal didn't notice him and noted that he couldn't get her love, of all things he wanted. Now suddenly he wanted to kill Takeru, 'Why…? Kiros' motives are mostly about Princess Iyal. Why did he still want to kill me even if we throw her out of picture…? There has to be something. But then again, he wasn't totally loyal to the Tube Empire…'

"In other words…" Takeru suddenly spoke as he stood up, "This is it, guys. Our battle begins now. Perhaps if we are to deduce how they came back, it would be Rufecil's acts. But that is something we shouldn't bother for now. They're back, if we want to live, if we want to go home by finding those keys, if we want to protect the people on the other side, we must fight. I can't do it alone so I'm gonna need your help." As a last act, he offered his hand for a handshake.

"_Count me in_." Jiraiya said as he put his hand above Takeru's.

"Me too. I can't leave this be." Chisato also put his hand above Jiraiya's, smiling and agreed to fight together.

"I'll fight as well." Mei was next as she put her hand above Chisato's. She then turned to Hoji, "You will as well. Right, Hoji?"

"O… of course." Hoji nodded as he put his hand above Mei's and looked at Takeru.

"Thank you, everyone." Takeru said, "Let's do our best…" Along with that, he thought of the dream he had, 'I must do my best to prevent that dream into coming to reality...'

The formation of the Super Sentai is complete for now, along with their mission, but their enemies have appeared to hinder them. For the safety of the humanity in this world and the original world, keep fighting and never give up! Super Sentai!

"By the way, Jiraiya…" As everyone put their hands down, Chisato said, suddenly her voice turned rather eerie.

"Uh… _yeah_?" Jiraiya asked nervously.

"That gag you gave me before…" Chisato continued, "It stunk so much! Do you know how many showers I'm gonna have to take to get rid of this!"

"Look, it's not like we have much choice in selection…" Jiraiya tried to defend himself, "Besides, I had to make the capture scenario look realistic…"

"Sure, you pay that back!" Chisato said, grabbing the same gag that was used to gag her for the scenario to fool the Penguin Nejire, "I'll gag you!"

"_Wait, I'm sorry_!" Jiraiya said as he tried running off from Chisato trying to gag him with it, as Takeru, Hoji and Mei just stepped back, seeing the Chisato chasing him off. Well, at least they look like they're bonding together as friends…

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: Well that took awhile... The formation is complete, villains revealed (Kiros, Abrellar, Lamie, Gasha Dokuro and Shibolena), and I guess it's time for some... fillers. I hope I can keep up with this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!


	7. Red of the Leadership

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **I am SO NOT DEAD! I RETURN! Sorry, I just got into a bit of crisis and writer's block. But the Goukaiger hype has kind of rekindled my passion, so I am back on track. Hopefully not stopping. Anyway, the next chapter begins now!**  
**

* * *

**PREVIOUSLY ON CHAPTER 6  
**

* * *

_This is an alternate world where people from various timelines are taken to live here for whatever reasons unknown. Here, five warriors from different Super Sentai teams; Takeru/Red Mask of the Maskman, Tomasu Hoji/Deka Blue of the Dekaranger, Mei/Ptera Ranger of the Zyuranger, Jiraiya/Ninja Black of the Kakuranger, and Jougasaki Chisato/Mega Yellow of the Megaranger; have gathered together, to find the mystery behind this universe and stop an ancient evil known as Rufecil. However, several of their old enemies have also gathered to eliminate them. They stand strong to uncover the mystery and fight to defend justice and protect the innocents! _

* * *

**CHAPTER 7: Red of the Leadership  
**

* * *

To the Super Sentai, Hiroaki has left us the underground base called 'Bonds'. It helped the Super Sentai monitor the world, specifically Japan, a popular target where the villains would strike. As of the current, the Super Sentai was doing activities like any normal human beings would do, but as of now, they were all training in the training dome. Takeru sparred with Jiraiya, between karate and ninpo, while Hoji and Mei were together in shooting practice, Hoji with guns and Mei with archery.

Mei managed to shoot about 3 out of 5 shoots to the perfect mark. When she looked at the results, she just wiped her sweat and said, "Whew. I did well for now, I suppose." She then looked at Hoji, "What about you, Hoji?" The young man was still silent. And it was just then Mei realized he was concentrating and kept shooting and shooting… and all of them hit right on the mark. "Wow…!" Mei clapped her hands as a result.

"_It's… Perfect._" Hoji said as he put down his gun, and looked at Mei's result, "While that wasn't perfect, it's not a bad sign. Keep this up, Mei." He cheered.

"Well! Excuse me for not being 'perfect' enough!" Mei just huffed as she then turned towards Takeru and Jiraiya sparring. "Well they sure are also practicing hard."

"HII-YAH!"

"HYAA!"

With one moment, Takeru launched his fist, and in the same time, Jiraiya tried swinging his hand for a chop. Both landed near their faces and stopped… the match is a draw. "Haha! That's a good match!" Takeru said as both of them laid down their fists, "You're pretty good!"

"_You too._" Jiraiya replied, before he started looking around and noticed something, "_Where's Chisato?_"

"Huh? She hasn't arrived yet?" Mei wondered, realizing that they were missing one person… until suddenly the door opened and there came Chisato, carrying a bag filled with foods.

"Hey, guys! What did I miss?"

"Missed the whole training session." Hoji said bluntly, crossing his arm, "You're pretty confident with your strength."

"Sorry about that…" Chisato sheepishly answered while putting her hand forward, "See, I'm still in college so I still gotta attend that…"

"Sure that won't hinder your activity in fighting those guys?" Jiraiya asked back. The last thing he'd want to hear is for Chisato to suddenly make an excuse that college work kept her busy.

"Hey, as a Megaranger, I was known to juggle a double life between fighting the Nejirejia and schoolwork." Chisato stated, defending herself, "So no need to worry about me!"

"Okay, point taken. Now that everyone's here, there's something I'd like to talk about." Takeru stated, once again his face turning serious, "Leaders. Don't you think we need one? I may be the leader of the Maskman, but maybe…"

"Well that may be true." Hoji pondered as he walked around, "Takeru may be the most senior and the red warrior, but he is the least advanced in terms of technology, so…"

"So you're telling that you, being the most junior and recent, become the leader, Hoji?" Chisato suddenly asked in sarcasm.

"Since when did I say that? !" Hoji asked back, "Though… I do have the experience as a field leader."

"Yeah, right. So for a change, we get a leader who is not Red." Chisato pondered, "Oh well, the official leader of the Megarangers isn't Mega Red."

"Well… if I am the leader…" Hoji wondered, until he suddenly said, "The first thing I'll ask to you is to do something about this double life."

"What? !" In a sudden, Chisato raised her voice angrily, "Are you saying that I should abandon my college? ! Don't you trust me? !"

"This is a serious business!" Hoji shot back, "It's no longer only the Nejirejia you're fighting against! There's also Alienizers! Along with Tube, Bandora's minions and the Youkai! It's going to be a harder fight! School and fighting evil are two completely different things!"

"You can't just decide like that!" Chisato shot back at him, "I…"

"What? !" Hoji was riled up at this point, "Look, are you really committed to fight against evil here? Are you professional or not? !"

"I… I try my best, Hoji." Chisato was also equally angered, and after she put the bag of food to the table, she stormed off from the room.

"_Wait, where are you going?_" Jiraiya asked, but Chisato did not hear it.

"Let's follow her!" Takeru suggested as Jiraiya nodded, and the two boys followed the fleeing Chisato.

Hoji also wanted to pursue her as well, but suddenly Mei stepped in front of him. "What now, Mei?" She was silent, but suddenly she raised her hand and slapped him straight on the cheek, "Wh… what was that about? !"

"Don't you know the term 'rude'?" Mei asked angrily, "Chisato is trying her best to continue her life while fighting evil. You have no right to dictate her life! Who called you leader already? !"

"I never declared myself leader yet!" Hoji defended, "It's just a what-if scenario!"

"Okay, but that was uncalled for!"

"All right, I admit. I might've gone a bit too much." Hoji said, admitting defeat, "I should apologize to her."

"Takeru and Jiraiya are taking care of it, I'm sure." Mei said as suddenly her eyes shifted into some sort of nastiness, "But first, as a fellow female friend of Chisato, I feel obliged to give you a punishment for your rudeness… Hee hee…"

"Uh… what?"

* * *

As all of these were unveiled, the group of villains led by Abrellar has located themselves inside a base located on the moon, a castle once belonged to Bandora. With his help as well as Shibolena's technology, it was renovated into something more high-technology. They were able to scout on what was happening in the Earth. "A scuffle between the team?" Gasha Dokuro commented, seeing the squabble between Hoji and Chisato, "And they expect to defeat us like this?"

"They're Super Sentai." Abrellar added, "That alone makes them as dangerous as it can get… but this time… our plan will succeed…"

"Plan?" Lamie asked, confused with what was happening, "So you have a plan for something? Such as… terrorizing children or such?"

"You're a pretty woman, Lamie." Kiros complimented, before his compliment turned into a sour comment, "But your planning leaves little to be desired at."

"What did you say? !" Lamie shot back at Kiros and attempted to slash him, even though it was dodged.

"Hit a nerve, didn't I." He called back, "But I gotta admit that I like women who got spunk. At least that's one thing positive from you." It was meant as an insult, however, thus Lamie could only growl in annoyance, when Shibolena just stepped between them.

"That's enough, Kiros." Shibolena reprimanded, "I know you like hitting on women, but this isn't quite the time. Aren't we here for the goal of the destruction of Super Sentai?"

"Indeed. However…" Abrellar continued, "I realized that the reason why we fail all stem to one thing… we tried to inflict damage to humanity in general first, without plucking out the obvious obstacle… The Super Sentai."

"Exactly." Gasha Dokuro added, "Once the Super Sentai is out of picture, then we can torment humanity as much as we like! Therefore, I suggest that we drop whatever plan we had for humanity, children, or whatever, before we kill those pesky Super Sentai!" He then turned towards Abrellar and pointed his sword to the bat-like Alienizer, "You too… Agent. You death merchants have your job, I know… but this time… make it that you only give your services if your clients are willing to destroy the Super Sentai!"

"Yes. The earlier they're out of picture… the better." Abrellar said while chuckling devilishly, "So then… has anyone gotten an experience about nearly wiping out your respective enemy team?"

"I remember one…" Kiros said, reminded at that one time the Maskman was nearly wiped out… the incident with Fencer Unas. "We of the Underground Tube Empire knew one royal fencer named Unas, resembling one of the Maskmen. Using that as an advantage, we used one of the monsters we had, the Armor Doggler, to possess that Maskman and completely cornered the rest, to the point that we could corner them and arrange their execution… Of course, due to that stupid thing called 'friendship', we were interrupted in the last moments and the Maskman force was restored… Or so I heard from the other Tube generals." As he concluded his story, he looked at the rest of the villains who looked in awe, "Impressive, huh? I bet any of you has never come so close in defeating the Sentai."

"You watch your mouth!" Gasha Dokuro was angered and put his blade on Kiros' neck, all while scolding in annoyance, "My father and I have more than once captured and nearly killed the Kakurangers as well!"

"But that definitely ended in failure too, I suppose?" Lamie added the fuel to the fire.

"That's enough! We're here for planning, not to bicker on who are better!" Shibolena finally broke the argument as the rest really understood. She then turned her attention to Kiros, "That monster was an interesting one, Kiros. Perhaps with my Nejire beast, we could create a more extreme situation than that one…"

"I like that attitude as well…" Kiros smiled widely as he approached Shibolena, "So… what's in the plan?"

"For this plan, I would require your knowledge." Shibolena said as she eventually turned towards Abrellar, "If you would also give out your merchandise, Agent Abrellar?"

"Of course." Abrellar chuckled as he put his hand in front of his head, "For this once… I will disregard about prices and fortunes. The elimination of the Super Sentai comes first. So you get my services for free… consider this a very good opportunity that you should not miss."

"Very well… we should not waste any time here." Shibolena said as she entered the laboratory, followed by both Kiros and Abrellar.

"Huh… We'll just see if this kind of plan would work…" Gasha Dokuro muttered deviously as she witnessed her allies enter the laboratory, "I doubt that you could even come close to my father… that I will definitely surpass."

* * *

"Chisato!" Wandering around a nearby park after they got out from the Bonds, Takeru and Jiraiya continued to call out for Chisato.

"She must've been distraught on that comment." Jiraiya muttered, "Sometimes I do wonder if Hoji is really…"

"I admit he might come off a bit of a jerk." Takeru said, having been the one who was with Hoji the longest, "But he's really dependable. What he said isn't completely wrong either. This is a dangerous threat."

"Are you saying that Chisato really needs to lay off the college work?" Jiraiya asked. After his experience with high school, he admitted that it was quite fun, even if it's for several days only. As far as he knew, after high school, there was college. It must've been fun as well…

"No, I'm not saying that." Takeru defended himself, "But I was just saying that she needs to put more effort in her double life for now, without neglecting either. They're both important."

"Well said." Jiraiya nodded, impressed with Takeru's wisdom, "For now we search for her and tell her it's okay. To make things quicker, _let's split up._"

"Um… wha?" Takeru was puzzled at hearing it, as he wasn't really familiar with the English language, even if it was broken like Hoji.

"Hey… what are you two doing here?" In a sudden, they heard Chisato calling them as she approached them, cancelling their plan to split up.

"Oh, there you are, Chisato." Takeru called, "We were looking for you. We just want to talk."

"Is it… about my college?" Chisato's mood suddenly was ruined again. Her smile became sour as she hung her head low, "I'm sorry. But I really can't abandon my education again. It's all right if you…"

"Replace you? _No way_." Jiraiya defended her, "You're irreplaceable. I'm sure Hoji didn't really mean that."

"But if I really become a burden…" Chisato insisted, until Takeru held her in the shoulder.

"Okay, Chisato… take a deep breath, relax and then sit down over there." Takeru said as he pointed to a bench located in that park, "Maybe it will help you calm down." As instructed by Takeru, Chisato did what she was told to and sat down. She felt a bit relaxed, true to Takeru's advice. As a minute passed, Takeru started talking once more. "Listen, I'm not saying you're a burden, nor do I disapprove your double life as both a Sentai Warrior and a student. They're both important. Hoji wasn't completely wrong either. This is really a threat that has never been so big… I mean, more than one faction joining each other…"

"So basically, I really have no choice but to…" Chisato tried asking again, but Takeru interrupted.

"If you abandon that double-life of yours, I will really be mad." Takeru cut her protests instantly, "Those two are important, it's not right to sacrifice one. All I'm asking is that you intensify your efforts in that double-life. You'll need them."

"Well… I guess that's one way to put it… I should be able to do it." Finally, Chisato managed to smile, her spirits rising again, "If I could have a double-life while being a Megaranger, this shouldn't be too hard. I should just try even better than before." She clenched her fist, showing her determination to face the new challenges of life, "Thanks, Takeru."

"_Great_." Jiraiya nodded, adding a smile, "Let's go back to Bonds. I was pretty sure you bought something. About food, perhaps?"

"Uh huh." Chisato said as she got up and along with the boys, she started walking away, "It was meant for an after-training meal…"

* * *

On the other side of the city, however, Hoji was seen carrying a few shopping bags, while Mei was walking in front of him. "What have I done that I deserve this…" Hoji sighed as the weight of the bags got onto him.

"What have you done?" Mei said, in a rather playful tone, "It's because you were being a jerk in a way you express things. You should try to recall your mistakes. This is a pretty light punishment, you know."

"Well, how are you going to pay this?" Hoji retorted, "Don't tell me… Look, the Bonds is not a bank, you know. It doesn't produce money! We could go bankrupt if…"

"No worries, I'm not buying much!" Mei said, until suddenly she shifted her eyes, as if looking rather sinister, "Or… would you like a heavier punishment where I go on a shopping spree and have you pay for all of it?"

That one look really brought Hoji to his knees metaphorically as he gulped and resigned in defeat by muttering, "N-no, thank you, ma'am…" 'Is she really a princess?' At the same time Hoji wondered on Mei's status. However, he quickly concludes that princess or not, Mei must be pretty young at her age, the 'hundred years' in her age attributed to her time she went into a sleeping state without her body aging, and it would be common for her to act like a normal girl, liking cute things or shopping.

And speaking of cute things… as such he continued to walk, following Mei as she suddenly stopped on a store which sold several cute dolls.

"Ah… This is so cute…!" Mei stated as she looked at a bunny doll on the stand, "Say… would you…"

"B… buy this…?" Hoji gulped as he realized that Mei probably would want him to buy it for her.

"Pretty, please…?" Mei then made an expression which involving making her eyes wide and slightly watery, and putting her hands together, as if pleading to Hoji, "I… I wanted to buy that during the breaks at the battle against Bandora, but I never got the chance! Now that I could… Well, it's only once!"

'Is this girl trying to take advantage of me…?' Hoji wondered as he looked at the price tag of the doll. It was quite expensive too… But then when Mei used her expression to plead for him, Hoji was not that much of a heartless man to dismiss it. He's having trouble to decide whether to accept or not.

However, in a sudden, they heard people screaming. In this moment, Hoji knew that perhaps Abrellar and his new team is causing trouble. "Save it for later." Hoji said as his face turned serious, "We got trouble."

"I see." As much as she was disappointed that her chance was dashed again, Mei knew when to get serious. She got rid of that expression and nodded with a serious face as she and Hoji ran to the direction where the scream came from.

* * *

It didn't take long for Hoji and Mei to finally find the culprit… a Nejire Beast formed like a cross between a turtle and an armadillo, its head and limbs were that of a turtle, but it possesses the tail of an armadillo, and the shell combined that of a turtle and of an armadillo. "Hold it right there!" Hoji's yell was enough to make it stop and turned its attention to the duo, rather than attacking many innocent people.

"What are you planning to do? !" Mei asked, though not really sure of what she would call it, but the creature was still silent.

"Well, I guess we'll have to force him to tell. Though there's got to be something behind this rampage… " Hoji said as he prepared his SP License, "Let's finish this quickly."

"Okay!" Mei nodded as she prepared her Dino Buckler as well.

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

After transformation, both Deka Blue and Ptera Ranger quickly moved to attack the beast, brandishing their weapons as they attacked the silent monster.

"Is this how you run things in the past? !" Deka Blue asked while he struck his D-Rod to the monster's hand, "Mindlessly attacking innocent people because you were told to? !" And there was no response from the monster. But then, he realized something was wrong… 'Why didn't he summon whatever minions he had before?'

As Deka Blue eventually broke away from the clash, an opening was made. Ptera Ranger tried to aim with her Ptera Arrow onto the creature's head, "Okay, stay right there…" She muttered as she pulled the string. Until she did detect that something was terribly off. Several Kunekune soldiers leapt behind her and kicked her back, knocking her down. "An ambush…? !" As such, Ptera Ranger had to concentrate on the enemies right now while Deka Blue continued to push on against the monster.

"Kunekune soldiers… which means, just like that Nejire beast…!" Deka Blue confirmed seeing the Kunekune soldiers, now he knew what he fought against. As the fight continues, however, suddenly the creature grinned.

"Hehehe… right onto your positions." The creature spoke sinisterly as suddenly it crossed its arm, "Shell Missiles… stand by, fire!" In a sudden, the shell behind its back grew many rocket spikes and as it spread it arms, the spikes flew to the sky and homes onto both Deka Blue and Ptera Ranger, even as they dodged, the number of the spikes were too many for them, attacking them from front and behind.

"Damn…!" Deka Blue cursed as he tried to get up. However, the creature yelled further.

"Now, this is the power of the Shell Nejire!" The creature, finally stating his name, suddenly made a copy of his shell, which he threw and it attached itself onto Ptera Ranger, de-transforming her back into Mei as the armor circled and restrained her arm slightly.

"AAAAHHH!" Mei screamed as the armor inflicted an untold amount of pain to her, "What… what is this…!"

"Enjoy your last moments of sanity." A female voice was heard as Deka Blue looked around, and he found Shibolena walking right to him.

"You! What have you done to Mei…!" Deka Blue vehemently asked, but Shibolena just attacked him without even answering at all, clashing her stick with his D-Rod, before kicking him on the chest. Unfortunately for him, just as he got up, Shell Nejire also threw another of his armor copy, de-transforming him and gave him a similar pain. "AAARGH!"

"Lose your mind, and attack your so-called friends!" As Shibolena eventually said after witnessing both Hoji and Mei being inflicted with the electrocution, finally a bright light flashed and both heroes were not on themselves again. They're wearing a silver armor and black-purple vest, Mei was still holding a bow and arrow, while Hoji used an actual sword instead of his rod.

"Perfect… perfect, just as planned! Well done, Shell Nejire!" Shibolena said to the monster as it also expressed its own joy.

"Thank you, Milady! The Nejirejia's revenge shall be upon this world!" The monster said, before Shibolena promptly knocked him on the head.

"Fool! Before you go on with humanity, you must go after those Super Sentai first!" She warned, "Especially that… Megaranger…!"

* * *

With them being controlled with the armors, Hoji and Mei began to strike against the innocents and human properties, attacking them. It didn't take long for them to be spotted…

"_HEY! STOP!_" It was Jiraiya who tried stopping them, but they looked at him with cold, emotionless eyes. In the meantime, Takeru and Chisato had been evacuating the innocents, before they confronted the two as well.

"Hoji! What the hell? !" Takeru yelled out, but Hoji did not respond as he attacked him. At this point, it instantly reminded him with his previous fight with Akira, his fellow Maskman possessed by a Doggler monster. Except this time, not only Hoji was experiencing the same thing, Mei was also the same, attacking Chisato along the way.

"Mei, stop this!" Chisato pleaded as she dodged Mei's shots.

"_Damn_, at this rate I have to turn the tables!" Jiraiya said as he prepared his Doron Changer.

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON –**"

Unfortunately for Jiraiya, before he could transform, a lightning bolt struck his hand, causing him to drop it and his transformation interrupted. Before he could realize what's going on, he felt that something was grafted onto his back. "Wha-AAAAHHH!" Jiraiya was also injected with the pain as he screamed.

"Jiraiya! No!" Chisato tried to get the thing off his back, but she was suddenly held with both Hoji and Mei. In the same time, several Kunekune soldiers suddenly appeared and attacked Takeru instead, "Kunekune soldiers…? !" As Chisato uttered, there was a flash of light, and in a sudden Jiraiya ended up the same as Hoji and Mei, wearing a weird armor and having cold, emotionless eyes.

"Oh no…" Takeru muttered as he just punched a Kunekune soldier down.

"'Oh no' indeed!" In a sudden, Shibolena appeared along with the Shell Nejire, surrounding the recently brainwashed Jiraiya. "This is your end, Super Sentai. And I never thought it'd be this quick."

"You…!"

"Shibolena…! Why are you doing this? !" Chisato insisted, as she struggled on the hold of both Hoji and Mei.

"Why? Isn't it obvious? !" Shibolena said as she approached Chisato. With her stick, she started slapping her, "Vengeance upon you accursed Super Sentai! Because of you… Hizumina… Yugande… Dr. Hinelar…! ALL OF THEM DIED! I shall have my revenge… for my family…!"

"Ugh…" Chisato could only grunt while she took the hits, "You… extended your hatred to us all Super Sentai…?"

"Indeed. If it wasn't for them, we would've had an easier time to fulfill our ambitions." Shibolena said, "But that's enough talk. Shell Nejire!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The Shell Nejire then produced another copy of his shells and threw it to Chisato, "This is the last one. Savor it well!" In no time, Chisato was grafted with that armor and experienced the pain onto her body.

"CHISATO!" Takeru called out once more, but even more Kunekune blocked his path.

"Aaah…! T-Takeru…" Chisato, with the ounces of her remaining strength called out, "I'm sorry… I leave the rest… to you…!" As soon as she finished that, a bright light flashed in front of her as well and she then stood brainwashed.

"Good job, Shell Nejire…!" Shibolena commended as she turned her attention to Takeru, "Feeling familiar? Red Mask… Kiros told me about you."

"Kiros? !" Takeru said, shocked, "What did he say? !"

"That you once was completely beaten when you're stabbed in the back by your ally…" Shibolena's words once again recalled on how he and the rest of the Maskman saved Akira, by using the power of their trust and their prayer. "This time… you're alone." She uttered, bringing Takeru in shock, "You'll face not just one of your ally, but four of them, and you're alone in this! Die!" As Shibolena commanded; the brainwashed Hoji, Mei, Jiraiya and Chisato attacked Takeru.

"Guys! Stop this! It's me, Takeru!" Takeru tried to remind them, but all of them fell into deaf ears. He realized that they came from different teams, so the bonds weren't as strong. They needed a leader to rearrange that bond. However, Takeru had no time to do this. He had to defend himself. This time there won't be a public crucifixion like before with Akira. These four were set to kill him right there at that time.

"Damn it…!" Takeru said as he leapt to avoid being surrounded, "How dare you do this to my friends! Unforgivable!"

"**AURA MASK! RED MASK!**"

In instant, he transformed and prepared for another battle… alone. Dauntlessly, he ran through and beat up many Kunekune soldiers that barred his way to the Shell Nejire. As they engaged in a fight, Red Mask started asking him out loud, inbetween launching his punches. "Tell me how to return them to normal, now!"

"Sure thing." Shell Nejire said as he turned back and let Red Mask punch his shell, causing him to pull his fist back in pain, "And that's death!" With that, he smacked Red Mask on the chest, knocking him away. "If you kill me, then they will die too!"

"What…? !" While Red Mask was down, he saw Shibolena trying to pick up something in the ground. "That's… damn it! Masky Blade!" Red Mask quickly drew his signature weapon and leapt to Shibolena, attacking her. He didn't manage to land a clean hit, but damaging Shibolena was never his intention at all. Instead, when Shibolena was distracted, he picked up the item that she tried to pick up… Jiraiya's Doron Changer. "No way I'm letting this fall to your hand!"

"Is that so? But don't you think you're swinging your weapon at the wrong direction?" As Shibolena smirked, Red Mask found himself surrounded by his possessed allies, as they started attacking him again. Just like before, he couldn't find it in his heart to attack any of his new friends. And soon, the attacks landed on him started to tally and he began to grow weak with his injuries.

"Damn… is this how I'm going to end…?" Red Mask struggled to get up to his two feet after an attack from both Chisato and Jiraiya knocked him down. Shibolena took the right information from Kiros and made the effect bigger. The Shell Nejire was merely a facilitator. The biggest threat came from his possessed four friends. However… in the last moments, he remembered… that dream. That dream where his friends vanished. 'No… I can't give up here. If I fail here, then the world…!'

Red Mask then stood up and put his hands forward, forming a symbol. "Meditation!" He shouted as he concentrated, unleashing several aura from within. The aura struck his four allies, but in the case of Chisato, however, he managed to land a hit somewhere above her, causing a certain black orb to appear floating above her. "Wha…? Perhaps that is the source…!" Betting every last ounce of his fighting strength, Red Mask drew his Masky Blade again, and concentrated.

Coincidentally, Chisato was the first to get up, and in turn ran towards Red Mask. Shell Nejire, however, managed to spot something. "It's detected…! On her, of all people? !" He was shocked to hear that.

"Fall back! It's too dangerous!" Shibolena shouted, trying to command Chisato. However, it was too late for her.

"Now!" Red Mask exclaimed as he suddenly jumped and sheathed his sword, the drawing was just a feint. Quickly, he drew his gun and shouted, "Laser Magnum!" With that, he shot the orb, destroying it. On its destruction, the armor once again injected pain onto Chisato's body as she screamed in pain, but overall, she managed to survive as she slumped to the ground.

"Chisato!" Red Mask reached and carried her as his strength started to fade away. Thanks to the explosion, Shibolena was unable to see that Red Mask fled with Chisato.

"That was a lucky shot…" She cursed.

* * *

"Well that wasn't too bad!" Lamie exclaimed as she and Gasha Dokuro watched the events unfold from the castle.

"What? ! Are you giving up that easily! Admit that they're better? !" Gasha Dokuro, however, protested.

"So mean! I didn't mean that!" Lamie protested and pouted "Ugh, you certainly are different from my darling Grifforzer… I miss him…"

"Of course I'm different!" Gasha Dokuro continued to protest, "I'm better! And stronger!"

"Are you hitting on me? !" Lamie snapped again, thinking that Gasha Dokuro had the balls to even hit on a married woman.

"Rather than arguing like that, maybe you should just enjoy the destruction of those… Sentai." Abrellar arrived just in time to break away the fight, "They're nearing their destruction with how things go… Genius or not, the difference is success." The group was then silenced as they just watched.

* * *

Red Mask managed to carry her into an empty house near the docks area until he was exhausted and de-transformed. Around this time, Chisato started regaining consciousness. "Um…? What am I doing… Ah!" She gasped after remembering what happened to her, being possessed by a monster and attacking Takeru. When she looked around, she witnessed Takeru heavily breathing and exhausted. "Takeru!"

"Chisato… you all right?" Takeru just asked, looking at her despite sweating, "This is no big deal…"

"I'm sorry, Takeru… I…" Chisato held him on the shoulder, getting him to sit down and lean on a wall to rest. She hung her head low in shame, "I wasn't…"

"No, it's okay. We're caught off guard." Takeru said, "It's not your fault. Nothing to do with double life and all…"

"You saved me." Chisato said as she faced him and gave a smile showing her gratitude. "I'll have to make it up somehow… oh, all right I know. Takeru, rest here."

"Eh?" Takeru was shocked hearing it.

"I can still fight. I'm not as tired as you." Chisato said as she got up, her confidence returning, "I'll save the rest. So please just rest here until you got your strength back."

Takeru wanted to stop him, but Chisato was right. His spirit may be still burning, but his body needed rest. He just smiled and continued, "Very well. I'll leave it to your capable hands, Chisato. You can do it. Do you know how to save them?"

"Um…" In a sudden, Chisato became quiet. She didn't know about how Takeru saved her, or rather, the details on how to do it. It was at that time Takeru finally told her.

"There's something invisible above their heads… it's controlling them. If you can detect them…" Takeru then also handed down something… Jiraiya's Doron Changer, "When all is done… give this back to Jiraiya."

Chisato took the words onto her head carefully and started thinking of a way to discover it, until she realized that she did have the power. "I know how to do it, and I can! Leave it to me, Takeru!" As Takeru nodded, Chisato left the house.

"Wait for me, guys… I'll save you." She muttered as she finally prepared to transform, "**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

And thus, Mega Yellow ran to the battle once again. Alone…

* * *

"Come out, Megaranger! Maskman!" Shibolena shouted as she along with the Shell Nejire were wreaking havoc towards the innocents, in order to bait Takeru and Chisato into the battle. "Or else these humans die!"

Unfortunately, Shell Nejire noticed something. Hoji, Mei and Jiraiya, despite being controlled with the armor, only did property damages rather than attacking the humans. This understandably pissed him off, "The hell are you doing? ! Go attack those humans!" They did not answer and continued with their rampage against properties. "Damn it…" Shell Nejire sighed as he pressed a button on his stomach. In a sudden, the three were electrocuted and eventually, when several men passed by them, they attacked these innocent people.

"Ha ha ha! Good…!" Shell Nejire laughed in satisfaction, until he realized one thing. They only attacked with non-lethal or vicious attacks. "That's not vicious enough! Use your weapon! Destroy them!"

Irritated, Shell Nejire attempted to press the button again, until he was interrupted. "MEGA SNIPER!" In a sudden, his stomach was shot as Mega Yellow eventually approached the enemies. "That's far enough!"

"Here you are, Mega Yellow…!" Shibolena beckoned as the three brainwashed heroes gathered around her, "Destroy her!"

Soon after, Mega Yellow found herself attacked, and like her friend, she was unable to hit them. Of course, she didn't want to. She needed to find an opening… in which she was able to when she leapt to escape. "My turn. Digicam Search!" As such, Mega Yellow activated her exclusive Megaranger power, the Digicam Search, which allowed her to see through many hidden things… which apparently included the black orbs controlling them. "That's it… must be what Takeru was talking about!"

"Oh no, she didn't mean…!" Shibolena was shocked hearing that. It seemed that she realized that Mega Yellow has spotted the weakness.

"Too late! Mega Sling!" Mega Yellow quickly acted and drew her weapon. He took aim, and managed to shot down the orbs above Hoji and Mei, freeing them from the armor's grasp and dropped them down. Mega Yellow then tried to take aim for Jiraiya, but when she shot, Shell Nejire got in the way and deflected the shot. "Wha? !"

"Not on my watch, fool!" Shell Nejire said as he then approached Mega Yellow and started attacking her from close range. "You got guts, Megaranger, that's why you're seriously pissing me off! Now die! For my Nejire brothers and sisters!"

"Rrgh…!" Mega Yellow struggled against the attacks, but she was slowly getting overwhelmed. Even more, Shell Nejire called forth Jiraiya so he acted like his shield, disabling Mega Yellow to attack him. The struggling continued for several minutes…

Until there was a sound of explosion.

And Jiraiya screamed as he fell to the ground, freed from the armor. When Mega Yellow noted, she finally noticed… both Hoji and Mei were back on their feet and shot the black orb with their gun and bow respectively. "_Payback time._" Hoji uttered, with anger in his voice. He really didn't like the thought of having his body controlled like that, it reminded him of that one event when an Alienizer switched body with him and wreaked havoc. Mei was also equally mad, when she realized that they controlled her mind, like that one time she was poisoned and had her mindset turn into a punk's, doing many crude, un-ladylike things.

"Guys, are you okay? !" Mega Yellow called out as she approached Jiraiya, trying to cover her.

"We're all right, don't worry, Chisato!" Mei was quick enough to switch her expression into a cheery one, reserved for her friends as the two approached Mega Yellow.

"We got no time, though." Hoji said, "We really have to destroy them quick…" And when Hoji looked, however, Shibolena was nowhere in sight, "Did she just flee? Well, no matter, we'll destroy that monster then." He then looked at Jiraiya who was getting up, "Sure you can continue? There's no rush."

"I'm fine, _no problem_." Jiraiya nodded as he got up and prepared to transform. "_Let's go! _ Super—"

"Um, Jiraiya?" Mega Yellow said as she tapped on Jiraiya's shoulder, and then handed his Doron Changer.

"Oh, right! Thanks!" Jiraiya said as he, along with Hoji and Mei prepared to transform.

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

The three transformed and ready to fight. However, something bugged Deka Blue… "Where is Takeru?"

"Don't worry, he's just recuperating to his wounds. He risked a lot to save you guys, you know." Mega Yellow said, "And it was because of his hint that I could save you all."

"I see…" Deka Blue noted, before he finally turned towards the Shell Nejire, "Did you call yourself Shell Nejire? In that case, for taking over control of men's minds, assault towards humanity for no apparent reason… JUDGMENT!"

Without giving any chances, Deka Blue immediately applied the Judgment Time to Shell Nejire, and he instantly received a red X. "Delete Approved!"

"What the hell was that? ! Delete? ! Don't make me laugh!" Shell Nejire protested.

"It seems that most of the monsters earlier than your era were more or less… all evil." Ninja Black commented, "I don't think you should…"

"Perhaps. But we can't be too sure." Deka Blue commented, and in a sudden, Ninja Black was reminded with his experience with the Youkai Zashiki-Warashi, who despite being with the all-evil Youkai, he was a good monster.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry I asked." He noted.

"No worries, that's why I'll need your help. I may not do Judgments for now, but if there are chances that the enemy may be ambiguous, that's when I'll use it." Deka Blue confirmed, "At any rate, let's go!"

On his command, Deka Blue had the team attack Shell Nejire, who responded with sending out many Kunekune soldiers, in which they began quite the brawl.

Eventually Shell Nejire has had enough and took position. "Shell Missiles, fire!" He launched the shell homing missiles as they homed onto the Sentai warriors. However, they're ready now. They prepared their gun sidearms; the D-Sniper, Ranger Gun, Kakulaser and Mega Sniper, and they did their best to shoot down every single of missiles, and some of them also shot down the Nejire Beast on the stomach. However, one missile flew straight to Ninja Black and he didn't shoot it.

"Jiraiya!" Ptera Ranger shouted, worried on Ninja Black's safety. However, he just grabbed the missile with his bare hand.

"Now get a taste of your own medicine!" He shouted as he jumped and threw the missile to the monster, who tried covering himself with his shell. It did him no good and his shell exploded, although not enough to kill him, but along with the explosion, there was a text written "BOOM!" that came out.

"What was that 'Boom!' thing?" Deka Blue asked, "That looked as if it came out from a campy film or sorts…"

"Well, you don't need to mind that. At least it gets the job done." Ninja Black shrugged.

"Huh?" Ptera Ranger then suddenly sensed something. It turned out they missed out one missile and it was heading straight to them. And it was a big one… "Guys, look out! Behind!"

"Ha ha ha!" Shell Nejire laughed as he got up and saw the Sentai warriors preparing, "I still got another trick up to my sleeve! You'd better enjoy your last moments…"

"LASER ARROW!"

And that yell dashed Shell Nejire's hopes as a beam went through the missile and destroying it. The culprit was none other than Red Mask himself, already recovered from his wounds.

"Takeru!" The four of them approached him, glad that he's back.

"Looks like you did a good job in weakening him too." Red Mask nodded, "Then we just need to finish the job. How about the Judgment?"

"Already did." Deka Blue answered, "And it's approved of course."

"Good. Guys, stand by." Red Mask said.

"Okay… let's go!"

In a short time, once again, Deka Blue and Ptera Ranger opened up with their ranged weapons, the D-Sniper and Ptera Arrow, while Mega Yellow followed up with her Blade Arm, followed by Ninja Black's Kakure-Ryuu Nagareboshi, and ended with Red Mask's Masky Crash. It heavily wounded him. As he started to collapse, he asked, "Too strong… what are… you…?"

"You'd like to know what we are?" Red Mask asked, before he nodded to the rest, "We'll tell you then…!"

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"Even though we are from the different time and team…" Red Mask stated, followed by Mega Yellow and they turned away, "We are still united as one!"

"We are…! **SUPER SENTAI!**" And as they exclaimed their identities, an ensuing explosion occurred and Shell Nejire was destroyed in it.

"All right, success!" Red Mask exclaimed.

"With this, case complete." Deka Blue said as he started up once again, "_Super Cool. Perfect._"

Unfortunately for him, that was continued with a light bop on his back from behind by Ptera Ranger, "You were brainwashed during the majority of this battle! What is so cool about that? Geez…"

"Well, so are you!" Deka Blue protested, "Besides, I was pointing at Chisato when I said that!"

"Eh?" Mega Yellow was confused as Deka Blue was pointing at her with his thumb.

"Well, guess that means he's now cool with you. Isn't that great?" Ninja Black cheered.

"Erm, Chisato…" Deka Blue said, "I was being a jerk back then. I'm really sorry about that. You're great."

"Ah hah… not really, Hoji." Mega Yellow answered back, "You did make point back then. I need to be more serious in this term."

"Ah well, all's good then?" Ptera Ranger asked happily, "Thank goodness…"

"Wait." Suddenly, Red Mask said, "Something bugged me… In times like this, isn't it the time where something like Okelampa come out and enlarge the monster?"

"Okelampa?" Mega Yellow said, "Oh you mean your equivalent of that Bibidebi of the Nejirejia Kingdom."

"It doesn't seem that Shibolena is in the mood to enlarge the monster." Ptera Ranger added, "Thank goodness. Without Daizyujin or something like that, we might not stand a chance."

Red Mask nodded at that notion. It looked like just as the enemy was deprived with their methods to enlarge the monsters, just like now and during the fight with Oni-baba, they were also deprived with their own robots, making the battle more ground-based, but this didn't mean they could relax. They must fight even harder…

* * *

Returning to the Bonds, it seemed that both Hoji and Chisato were undergoing a project, tweaking with machines. They preferred not to be disturbed. For hours, they worked in a locked room.

"I wonder what they're doing?" Mei asked Takeru as they both were snooping from the outside…

"Beats me. Maybe they're trying to make up for their argument back then." He gave a simple answer, before someone approached them from behind… Jiraiya.

"_Hey_." He called, "I'm just done baking up some crepes… Oh are they still on that project? Maybe this could be a great snack for them."

"Ah that'll be wonderful." Mei said, smiling as she also smelled the crepes which was on a plate that Jiraiya was carrying, "It smells good too!"

"Yeah, only problem is when they're gonna open up…" As Takeru said that, suddenly the door opened, causing the leaning Takeru to fall down. "Whoa!"

"Were you snooping around?" Hoji asked before he took a deep breath, "At any rate, we've finally done it."

"Done what?" Takeru asked.

"Here, take these." Chisato said as she handed down many of their communication devices… including the Masky Brace and the Doron Changer. "We implemented some devices so we can communicate to each other easier, rather than having incompatible issues due to different machines. We tested it on my Digitizer and Hoji's License, and it's a success."

"Oh, I understand that." Jiraiya nodded, "So, since I'm not side by side with the Kakurangers for now, I can detect and communicate with you guys from other teams, is that right?"

"Uh huh…" Chisato said, until she hung her head low, "Except Mei… I'm sorry, but for some reason there's no way we could get your Dino Buckler modified."

"I understand." Mei said, not worried, "It was a bit too mystical to become a communicator."

"Don't worry, though." Hoji said, handing her a different communicator, "You can use this. It's compatible with the rest."

"Thanks!" Mei smiled as she realized that she's not getting left behind.

"Anyway, ahem…" Hoji coughed up, "We also discussed several things when we're doing our project."

"And that being?" Curiously, Takeru asked.

"It's about the leadership thing. And we agreed that…" As Hoji said that, he put his hand on Takeru's shoulder, "You're the most fitting as leader, Takeru."

"Whoa… really?" Takeru asked, "But I'm not as technologically advanced as…"

"That doesn't matter, I agree with them." Jiraiya added, agreeing with Hoji, "Technology did not matter in leadership. You fit as our leader, and not just because you're the one with Red color, you know."

"Yes. Without your help and guidance, I really wouldn't be able to save the rest with the Shell Nejire." Chisato continued, "And you did cheer me up…"

"Takeru…" Mei then turned towards him, hoping that he'll accept it, as she also sensed great things from Takeru.

"Hm… Very well." Takeru finally nodded and smiled, accepting this position, "I will take the responsibility of leading you all. Together, we will be able to solve this mystery and eventually return home, saving the world and defeating Rufecil. For that…" As Takeru said that, he put his hand forward as a sign of trust and friendship. "I'll need your help and cooperation."

"_No problem_." Hoji put his hand on Takeru's as well, followed by Mei, Jiraiya and Chisato.

Finally, the team was further complete and united. However, their road is still a long one. Never give up, and keep on fighting! Super Sentai!

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: Whew that's about it. Took me months to pick up my passion back and finish it, but here it was. Here's a hoping that this will continue. Oh, and the other fic as well. I don't plan on burying them yet! Toodles for now!


	8. Blues of the Broken Heart

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note**: As promised, I updated fast for this one. This chapter's tone might get... a little too somber. But I hope you still enjoyed it... This is sorta a sequel of Dekaranger's Episode 37. Here goes.**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 8: Blues of the Broken Heart  
**

* * *

As Shibolena returned to the villains' base of operations in space, she received a rain of taunting, specifically from Lamie and Gasha Dokuro, upon her failure to wipe out the Sentai with her monster. "So much for that Nejire-whatever. You cannot even defeat them." Lamie mocked.

"Hmph, I was only gauging their strength." Shibolena defended herself, "So… they're stuck without their mechas, whereas we are stuck without the enlarging devices or creatures. I could really appreciate Bibidebi's help as of now."

Gasha Dokuro was about to shot back at Shibolena for making up excuses for her weakness, however, he also knew the deeds of Onibaba, that the thunders to enlarge Youkai were not present. "Tch… what a bothersome."

"Aah, that's true…" Lamie whined as well, "Usually Bandora-sama would call forth the evil spirits of Earth to make the Dora Monsters grow. Now that I was the only one who's plugged out of that box…" Suddenly Lamie thought of something as her face cheered once again, "I know! How about that Kiros and Abrellar?"

"Sorry, babe. No can do." As if she spoke of the devil, Kiros just appeared from the palace's briefing room to answer the question, and walking next to him was Abrellar, "I managed to gather some Doggler monsters to join me, mostly those who wants vengeance on the Maskman, and a few who were formerly Zeba's minions. But not that Okelampa. Damn it."

"Oke… lampa?" Shibolena asked, curious, "Perhaps it's like my Bibidebi? I mean, Tube's method of enlarging their soldiers?"

"Yep, that's correct." Kiros said as he approached Shibolena instead, "I like smart girls like you." And in turn, Shibolena pushed him away.

"Get off me!" She shouted.

"On the other hand, what about you… um… bat… thing?" Lamie then asked the other guy who came out from the room…

"That's Agent Abrellar to you." Abrellar corrected, "Well, I usually provided the Heavy Industrial Machines, but ever since my return, I am… unable to produce them. Well, as long as the Super Sentai did not have their mechas, we still stand a chance."

"What the hell were you discussing inside, huh?" Gasha Dokuro got to the point and asked away… and in a sudden, a Doggler monster arrived. It was an armored-monster with a cone head, its armor was shaped as if he was stabbed with thousands swords, "And what the hell is this?" He asked as this monster was incapable of speech.

"Ah, this! This is what we discussed." Kiros said proudly, "Meet Vengeance Doggler. My type of Doggler monster."

"I didn't know you are into the same gender." Shibolena mocked at Kiros' usage of words.

"I-it's nothing like that! I love my women!" He blurted out, defending himself, "Anyway, I and Abrellar discussed about possible weak points of the Super Sentai. This time, not through experience or friendship… but love."

"Love?" Gasha Dokuro wondered, until he remembered, "Oh yeah, so that's why… you were dumped, before, right?" Kiros was silent on that remark. Gasha Dokuro was right, he couldn't win the love of Princess Iyal even until death. And he could never win it again.

"So what is this about love being a weak point?" Lamie asked, "Don't tell me… you'll strike on that? What kind of strike will it be?"

"Based on that recording of Shell Nejire, I suppose I could fix that flaw about having a hidden weak spot." Abrellar said, "This time, when this monster possesses people, there will be no weak spots. Also, they'll not set their sights to other innocents. They will target a specific people… especially the one they loved. And I know just the perfect host for this Doggler monster. Come with me."

Abrellar led the other four to the briefing room as he showed an image of a seemingly normal woman who used to play musics. "What? That looked like a normal human woman. Did you think she would do much against the Super Sentai, even if one of them is her lover? !"

"No, looks can be deceiving." Abrellar said, "I introduced her to Kiros and he agreed that she's the perfect candidate. She is a Mikean woman named Teresa."

"Mikean?" Lamie asked, "You mean…"

"Yes, alien. However, she wasn't classified as an Alienizer." Abrellar continued as the video showed how Hoji came in clash with her brother Clord, "While I didn't contact her back then, I heard stories that she had a short relationship with Tomasu Hoji… Deka Blue, if you don't know. That relationship ended when Deka Blue shot her dearest brother down for doing a crime against humanity to preserve her life. They have never been in contact with each other again ever since."

"I understand now…" Lamie concluded, "That means, you want to use this Doggler so she attacks this Hoji for the vengeance of her brother?"

"That's correct!" Kiros said, clapping his hand, "Love hurts so much, and just as it hurts me, I will make the Super Sentai hurt because of love! This will be my vengeance!"

"Well, what are you waiting for then?" Abrellar noted, "Show me how this Doggler works."

"Heheh. Watch me, ladies." Kiros said as he blew a kiss to both Lamie and Shibolena and left, bringing the Vengeance Doggler along, "You'll be awed with the greatness of Sir Thief Knight Kiros!"

* * *

In the meantime, Teresa had lived a quiet life in the Earth after Clord's death. Overcame with grief, she was unable to sing anymore and settled with a quiet life as a nun. Even when her Mikean origin was revealed, the nuns did not look down on her and accepted her like normal. Her life was quiet, serene, but happy, she found something else to focus into other than clinging onto her past life. She was sad that it was Hoji who ended Clord's life, but she came to understand that it had to be done, Hoji was a cop, Clord was committing a crime. She was content with her life as a nun, though the memories of both Hoji and Clord lingered in her mind.

But the peaceful day ended.

At one day when she was flowering the abbey's garden, one weird man entered… It was none other than Kiros. "Good morning, sir…" Teresa, unaware of his origins, asked politely.

"Ooh, so you work here, huh? As a nun?" Kiros asked, "I think I'd like it better if you sing for me. Being a nun is boring…"

"Sir, what was that comment for, I'm sorry?" Teresa asked, already sensing something weird within Kiros, "I'm done with singing… Though if you want, I could sing for you once."

"As much as I want that…" Kiros' face suddenly turned twisted as he suddenly drew his sickles and put it in front of Teresa's neck, "I have other important business… which involved your BODY…"

"What? !" Terrified, Teresa gasped as she feared what Kiros would do to her, "What are you doing…? I warn you, as a nun, I am sworn to celibacy! You can't do this…!"

"No, no, no. It's for something else, honest!" Kiros said as he moved behind her back, effectively barring her way to run away, "I've got someone else who wants your body, and not in that way you imagined either. Vengeance Doggler!" On Kiros' call, the Doggler monster arrived, jumping in front of them and growling, all these terrified Teresa. "This is your perfect host! A woman who was hurt because of love!"

"Love…? !" Hearing that, Teresa was instantly reminded with Hoji. Memories of their times together slipped to her mind, but she realized that this man may be trouble, "We're just friends, nothing more! Stop this! If you want to harm him…"

"Well I'm not about to harm him…" Kiros said calmly, "On the other hand, you will!"

As Teresa gasped, the Vengeance Doggler suddenly ran and hugged Teresa as Kiros let go of his grip. As Teresa screamed in pain as the blades stuck onto her stomach, slowly, the Doggler entered her body and mind, causing her to drop down on her knees.

"Now then, Teresa… Remember the one you loved…?" As the Vengeance Doggler entered the body, it gained the ability to speak.

"Hoji…" She muttered.

"And remember what he did?" Vengeance Doggler said, but Teresa was silent. He had to spell it out, "Because of him, you lost your dear little brother Clord!"

"C… Clord…" She muttered further, her face starting to become devastated at the revelation.

"Well, now you're alone and suffering, because no one cares about you!" The Doggler riled her up further, "Clord would always stay by your side, but Hoji took him away! And he called you his lover and vice versa! Deliver justice to that so-called 'lover'! You are suffering because of him!"

Memories of how Deka Blue deleted Clord and her finding his body started to flood Teresa's mind. Except this time, however, as the face of Hoji was not seen, she was presented with the images that Hoji was psychotically smirking behind the Deka Suit. Eventually, her mind couldn't take it anymore. Influenced with the Doggler's words, she screamed and took form of her Mikean body, but her mind and actions were controlled by the Doggler. She ran off from the abbey.

A nun sighted her as she recognized her… "Sister Teresa, what are you—" Before she could answer, however, she met her end when Kiros casually stabbed her with his sickle from behind.

"No witnesses allowed. Sorry, babe."

* * *

In the meantime, Hoji was taking Mei along for a patrol, with the car they used to arrive at the city as his motorcycle was unavailable. Chisato was busy with college, while Takeru and Jiraiya were busy with physical training. Thus far, there hasn't been any signs of wrong things.

"Say, Hoji." Just to strike up a conversation than a boring silence, Mei asked, "Do you like musics?"

"Music? _No comment_. Though I do listen to it at times." Hoji gave the short answer, "What about you?"

"Oh, I do love music. Or to be exact… singing." Mei said, "I used to sing a lot back then, before Bandora declared war to humanity. If I had to pick a favorite theme, I'd say it's about a theme that gives out serenity to the beauty of nature."

"That seems to be like you, Mei." Hoji nodded, "For someone who existed in medieval times…"

"It's prehistoric." Mei corrected.

"Well, I could only surmise that while your life style. Not that I mind." Hoji said as he turned on the radio on the car, "Here, I think you can hear some musics from here…"

"Oh, I know this! Radio, right?" Mei said cheerfully.

"… For someone from millions of years ago, you sure is adapt to technology…" Hoji commented at her aptitude.

"Not as much as you or Chisato, though…" Mei humbled herself before she started humming to the radio's music, while Hoji continued to drive.

However, at one point, the radio played something familiar to Hoji. Innocently, Mei started humming it, but she suddenly stopped mid-point, commenting on it, "It is a powerful and beautiful song, but it feels… sad." However, the moment Mei said that, Hoji suddenly turned the radio off without warning, "Oh! Hoji, what gives? ! Why did you turn the radio off? !" He kept silent, as he ignored Mei's protests. She thought he was being unpleasant like before, and was tempted to forcefully turn the radio on… but then thought otherwise. She knew something was off. As he looked at Hoji's face, she realized that his face became sour.

"Hoji, is something wrong?" Mei asked, in a more comforting tone, "Perhaps that music… was linked to something tragic to you?" There was no answer from Hoji. "Please tell me, maybe I can…"

"I'm fine." Hoji cut down any further attempts to ask. Mei finally shut her mouth up, but her heart tingles, curious on what Hoji was thinking.

And it didn't take long for her to find out when suddenly something smashed onto the car, right on the front window, shocking Hoji. "What the…!" As he hit the break, he dropped that something. And as he went out, along with Mei, he recognized the form of his assailant. "You… you're a Mikean?"

It was of no surprise, this was really a Mikean, just like that Clord. Except for some reason, this one's body was covered with protruding swords. "State your business here. Depending on your answer, I…" Hoji started to speak, until suddenly this Mikean interrupted.

"Hoji…"

At that moment, Hoji instantly gasped. He knew that voice. In fact, it was far too similar. "Teresa…!"

"Teresa?" Mei asked, "Hoji, did you know her? It was such a nice name…"

"She… well…" Hoji was speechless in answering. He didn't know what to say. Why did Teresa come? And what happened with her body? Clord certainly wasn't covered in swords like her. "It's been awhile, Teresa…"

"HOJIIIII!" Without wasting further words, suddenly Teresa ran after him. Hoji knew what would happen if she got close to him, thus he instinctively dodged.

"Teresa, what are you doing? ! You know it is dangerous if that hits…" Hoji called her out, but Teresa didn't care and continued running to him, "Whoa, stop! We can talk this out, Teresa!"

"No more words…! This is for Clord!" As Teresa shouted, she suddenly shot out several electricities from her sword edges, causing explosions near Hoji. "Apologize to him in the Heavens up there!"

"C… Clord…?" Hoji could only mutter. That was certainly the Mikean that he deleted before. Teresa's brother was trying to develop a medicine to save her from certain death, but his methods included absorbing human's life sources, thus the SPD gave the order to delete him, and it became Hoji's test for the Tokkyou entry. With heavy heart, he fulfilled the job, but was too devastated with the result that he refused the transfer. "You're… suddenly mad about him? I know it's my fault… so…"

"Die!" Teresa shrieked as she ran forward, some of the swords at her back suddenly vanished and replaced in front of her as she ran forward. This chance, however, was used by Mei to grab her from behind and tried restraining her.

"Stop it!" Mei begged, "Isn't Hoji your friend? ! Why would you do this? ! Please, stop!" And as a result of that, Teresa roared as she shoved Mei away.

She ran to Hoji, attempting to impale him with those swords on her body, but he dodged. He had no intention to give his life away for this. However, at this point, his stamina has caught up to him. He'll need an extra push for this. "Ugh, at this rate… **EMERGENCY**!" As such, he's forced to transform into Deka Blue and continued dodging. At times, he failed to dodge, but the Deka Suit provided him enough protection.

However, all those only served to rile Teresa further, "That suit… that look… it's the one that killed Clord…! DIE!"

"What's with those two?" Mei wondered as she saw Teresa completely concentrating on Deka Blue, with no interest in her. She recalled the moment she tried restraining Teresa. However, as a Warrior of Love, Mei could understand that something was wrong within her. As if… "A possession…? ! Hoji, listen! Whoever she is, she's not being herself!"

"What? !" Deka Blue asked, "A possession? ! Like that time? !" It was just that time he remembered the last encounter with Shibolena, which ended with him being brainwashed by a Nejire Beast. Now that he realized it, perhaps they improved the possession system. "So we need to wait until we can find the weak spot? !"

"Yes, until then please hold on…" Before Mei could finish that sentence, suddenly a chain sickle was thrown from behind and circled around her body. "AH? !" Mei fell down and felt like being dragged somewhere… and waiting at the end of the chain was Kiros. "You…!"

"How do you do, pretty babe." Kiros said, greeting her as he got her to get up, "I am Thief Knight Kiros. And I do have to say, you're pretty cute."

"What was that? !" Mei knew better than not to fall to evil's flirtations, thus she instantly refused such advances, "Let go of me! What have you done to Miss Teresa? !"

"Oh, why do you care so much about her anyway?" Kiros taunted, "I just let her follow her deepest, hidden feelings…"

"What? !"

Before Kiros could continue, however, he suddenly jumped as he saw several shurikens thrown into the ground, nearly hitting him. As it turned out, Jiraiya was the one throwing that, arriving with Takeru and Chisato. "_Stop._"

"Kiros! What are you doing? !" Takeru yelled, "Let go of Mei, now!"

"Oh, I will. As much as a cute girl she is and I always get what I want… she is not what I want…" Kiros said as he dropped Mei to the ground, still chained. He pulled a small bottle of red water and drank it, "Now, you see what I can do…"

"Well, you're doing drug, so…" Chisato was about to taunt him for drug usage, until she suddenly saw him pulling Mei at the ground with ease, "Whoa, whoa. What are you doing? !"

Kiros then started spinning his chain as Mei was being dragged around in a circular way. "Incredible! Too bad this only lasts a few moments, though." He said as he eventually shouted, "Now take this! Crescent Screw!" As such, with the circular motions, Kiros released a gust of wind directed towards Takeru, Jiraiya and Chisato, all covering themselves with their arms… but at the end of the wind, Mei was thrown into them, causing them to fall down.

"Mei, are you OK?" Takeru asked, and he realized that due to the Crescent Screw, some of her clothes were torn here and there.

"I'm all right. But please, you've got to help Hoji!" Mei said as she got up, and pointed to how Deka Blue already fought against Teresa, without even lifting a finger to attack her.

"_What the…_ Why isn't Hoji attacking?" Jiraiya already knew something was fishy judging from how Deka Blue acted.

"What's the meaning of this… Kiros…!" Takeru asked angrily as Kiros just smirked.

"Good question, Takeru! You can say it all originated from you!" Kiros boasted, which shocked him, "The death of you Sentai will be a great sight, but ultimately… you are the man whose death I will enjoy the most, Takeru!"

"Wha…? !"

"Thanks to you, I was unable to get Princess Iyal's love…" Kiros started, remembering that when he first died, the revived Iyal paid him no mind and immediately embraced Takeru, "As the Thief Knight, I always get what I want… and it was because of you that my record was broken!"

"You really don't get it, do you?" Takeru made a firm statement as he got up, "Love isn't something that you can view like an object like that! This is why it is natural that you will never get Princess Iyal's love, before, now or after! With personality like that, you're setting yourself up to fail from the start!"

"Shut up!" Kiros said as he prepared his sickle, "I will have my vengeance! In fact, I'd say I've gotten it… That guy over there…" He then pointed to Deka Blue, still fighting Teresa, "I managed to make him fight because of love… You who constantly preach about love, can suck it up and see how love ruins the realm rather than making things better!"

"Kiros, you bastard…!" Takeru was unable to contain his anger and see how love got perverted so much, whatever Kiros was planning. He was the first to raise his fist and began transforming.

"**AURA MASK! RED MASK!**"

Once he transformed, he ran towards Kiros to attack him. Witnessing that, Mei also took a stand. "I am the Warrior of Love. Like you, Takeru, I cannot let this misuse of love stand. Hoji will have a lot to say later, but for now… I must fight against this man who perverts love! Everyone, please lend me your help!"

"You don't need to ask!" Chisato said as she turned towards Jiraiya, who nodded. Thus, the three prepared to transform.

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

As such, the three also transformed and joined in helping Red Mask to fight Kiros. "Four on one? Whatever, I feel like facing you all!" As such, Kiros started fighting against the four warriors. However, the liquid that he drank was a strength-boosting liquid, thus he was able to take on all of them without having much trouble.

In the meantime, however, Deka Blue still didn't dare to hurt Teresa. As much as he didn't have the intention of dying, he still hadn't shown any signs of attacking back. Whenever he tried so, images of him killing Clord and Teresa crying over his dead body would slip into his image, causing him to waver and took the hit instead. And unfortunately for him, the Deka Suit wouldn't give him infinite protection. He had nearly reached his limit, but he still managed to get back up.

"Teresa…" Deka Blue stood as he prepared to dodge another one of her charge with the many swords on her body pointed to him. 'Is it my karma for hurting you…?' He wanted to dodge, but suddenly his leg did not work as he wanted, wounded with a previous attack. He suddenly found himself being a sitting duck.

"Oh no…!" Ptera Ranger noticed what happened and decided to abandon the fight. "Watch out!" As Teresa neared Deka Blue, Ptera Ranger suddenly pushed him away and took full hit of Teresa's charge. She was knocked away and de-morphed on the ground as a result.

"Mei? !" Realizing what has happened, Deka Blue got near her and tried to wake her up, "Mei, wake up! Why are you… _Oh My God…_" When he touched Mei on the stomach, he then realized that his hand became soaked with blood. Mei must've taken quite the damage from Teresa.

Thankfully for him, while fighting Kiros, Mega Yellow spotted what happened to the other fight and was equally shocked as she approached the unconscious Mei. "Oh no! Guys! Mei is in trouble! This is terrible… she'll need treatment ASAP!"

"Oh you're not gonna go anywhere…" Kiros said as he still clashed his two sickles with the blades of Red Mask and Ninja Black. However, it was at that point that the effects of the power up vanished, and he felt weaker. This chance was used for both Red Mask and Ninja Black to kick him away, and they approached their friends.

"Damn it…" Red Mask said as he also assessed to Mei's wounds, "At this rate we're gonna have to retreat!"

"Right, just leave it to me. Everyone gather round!" Ninja Black said as everyone did. In response, he threw a smoke bomb to the ground, enabling them to retreat.

* * *

"Hehehe, this is such an entertaining watch." Lamie, who was watching, commented when she got into the part that Mei was wounded. Of course, it was because her personal enemy that was wounded. However, her time to watch would be interrupted by none other than Gasha Dokuro.

"What are you doing here, lazing off like that? !" He scolded, "We're here to work on defeating those Super Sentai, not to just watch! Such a spoiled brat…"

"Spoiled… brat? !" Lamie instantly stopped looking at the screen the moment she was called as such and glared at Gasha Dokuro, "Dare you say that again? !"

"If you're not, go whip out some of that 'Dora' monster you boasted!" He challenged, "I am currently on a deal with Agent Abrellar to find a suitable Youkai to go, just in case this Kiros failed. I do not just sit my ass down and watch…"

As he left, she was in complete, utter distraught that someone dared insult her, so much that she nearly punched the screen, but her fist was stopped by Shibolena.

"Don't take it too harshly." She advised, "Perhaps you should try as he said and beat him in his own game. Make your monster and go defeat the Super Sentai once that Kiros fails. I just got a gut feeling he will."

"But what do I do…?" Lamie pouted, as it dawned to her that Gasha Dokuro hit her on a sensitive spot, she was too spoiled during her time with Bandora, "Usually, I did not make monsters at all, we usually leave that to Pleprechuan with a special machine. Even if the machine is still here, I can't use it."

"Then train to use it." Shibolena suggested, tapping her on her shoulder, "Obviously after Kiros; Abrellar and Gasha Dokuro will try out their new monsters or whatever. There should be plenty of time for you to master on its usage. Go on. Or you would admit that you really are spoiled?"

"O-of course not! I'm going!" Lamie declared as she went to her room. Inside there was the old machine familiar to her, the machine that produced golems and Dora Monsters. It was now up to her to master it in quite a short time. As she clasped her hands, Lamie started working on it.

* * *

Back in Bonds, everyone was in the medical bay as Chisato tended to Mei's wounds. Hoji just sat down, unable to believe what just happened. First, Mei was wounded because of him and then, the perpetrator was his previous lover Teresa. Granted, she probably would be brainwashed or something, but he had wounded her by himself with the death of Clord. Even if it was in the name of law, he was unable to forgive himself for that.

It was at that time the other two, Takeru and Jiraiya, confronted him, "What was that all about, Hoji?" Jiraiya asked, "You're not even fighting back…"

"… Sorry." Hoji just answered shortly, "It's kind of a long story."

"This is not getting anywhere, Hoji." Takeru added, "We need to know who this monster you fought was. Kiros said it's related to love or something. Who is she to you?"

"Teresa. My old lover." Hoji's answer shocked the entire room, even Chisato.

"Your old lover?" Chisato asked curiously, "What's with you two? I didn't think the breaking up will end up like this."

"No, not entirely true, I suppose." Takeru corrected, "There's got to be something that was tinkered by Kiros."

"Was it a possession, like what happened to us last time?" Chisato added the thought, in which everyone looked at her, "Um… in that case, they might learn from their lessons and removed that weak spot. I tried using a Digicam Search before, and there wasn't anything odd in that monster."

"Oh boy." Jiraiya said in regret, "Worst to come is that we may have to destroy her to put an end to her misery." At the declaration, Hoji was shocked that he couldn't say anything. Would he be able to kill Teresa?

"Now, now." Takeru stopped the wondering for awhile and turned to Hoji, "I think it's the best if we know the story from Hoji himself. How about it? Please tell us about your experience with her." He tapped his shoulder to reassure him. He nodded, and started his story.

"As you know, I am a space police, under SPD. She was a sickly woman who had her passion in singing in bars. Despite the difference on species, we became fast friends. However, her little brother Clord didn't seem to enjoy our friendship, but I just took it that he was being overprotective. At that time I was being tested by the SPD for a promotion test or sorts. I'm on the final stages, and at that time, there was a criminal on the run. This criminal absorbs young women's life force for something, and I was assigned to delete this man. To my shock… the criminal was Clord. It turned out that he committed those crimes to develop a cure for Teresa, driven with only his love as a little brother. I was really torn between law and love. And…"

"And what did you choose?" Jiraiya asked.

"I chose law." Hoji said, hanging his head, "I had my duty as a Dekaranger to protect humanity that he's killing. So when he couldn't be reasoned to turn himself to the laws and attempted to attack another human, I instinctively shot him dead. And Teresa just passed by and saw his dead body in front of me. I'll never forget how she cried… and even if it's for the law, I could never forgive myself for making her like that."

"M… my… God…" Chisato's eyes were tearing up after hearing such sad story, "W… what happened next?"

"I chose not to accept my promotion even if I was qualified." Hoji finished up the last touches of his story, "And I thought I should pay Clord my respect. Amongst many Alienizers I fought, he was a certain one who wasn't evil at heart… Fate just wasn't really kind to him. I met Teresa there, but we didn't exchange any words at all. She… must've been bitter to me. And that was the last I've seen her."

"I see…" Takeru nodded, "Then for some reason, Kiros took advantage of that hidden feeling. How did he learn about— never mind. I know why he can know her… Agent Abrellar." He took the words out of Hoji's mouth before the latter could say the name. Judging from how Hoji described, that's the kind of thing a dark informant like him would do. And it seemed to him that they wanted to concentrate on the Super Sentai's destruction rather than creating mayhem in general humanity.

As Chisato listened, her hand was touching Mei's cheek… until she realized that it was slightly wet. "Wha…?" Shocked, she looked at Mei, who, in her surprise, was actually crying, "Mei? You…"

"So… that's why you turned off that radio…" Mei said lowly, it was only her eyes that cried, she wasn't sobbing at all, "Because that song was Teresa's… and it brought you sad memories. I'm sorry, Hoji… I didn't know."

"It's fine." Hoji said as he approached her, "I'm sorry that because of me, you…"

"What matter is that next time, you shouldn't do that again." Takeru reprimanded, "Next time, you need to fight with all your strength."

"What? !" Hoji yelled, "I've put her life in hell thanks to killing her brother, and you ask me to kill her? !"

"Sad to say, but she has to be stopped." Jiraiya sided with Takeru in this argument, "Maybe she's now targeting you, but in the hands of someone like Kiros, in league with the likes of Gasha Dokuro, once she's done with you, she'll probably be used to much more dangerous purposes!"

"But… what do I do now…" Hoji was in complete confusion. One thing he couldn't bring himself to do was to add up to her suffering, killing her would be the last straw. Not after their good memories…

It was at that time he felt that Mei tugged his hand from behind. Hoji turned to her as she said, "She was suffering too. I knew…"

"Mei…"

"You don't have to kill her…" She continued, "But you have to find a way to save her. It might hurt her a bit, but it is for her own good… She was already suffering so much from this turn of events. She never wanted this to happen. You're the only one who can do this, Hoji. Please… save her…"

"Takeru didn't say 'kill', right?" Chisato added up, which brought hope to Hoji's eyes.

"Of course not, I'd rather not have her dead if I can." Takeru nodded as he agreed with Chisato's statement, "I just said, fight with all your fullest. To save her, of course. And I'm sure death is not the only option."

"_Wrong_." Jiraiya insisted, suddenly, "It's not 'death is not the only option', but death is NEVER an option! Not for someone like her."

"That's an even more correct term to coin it." Takeru nodded, standing corrected, "You can save her without killing her. You can do it, Hoji."

"Guys…" Once again Hoji looked at the rest. No matter how much he acted like a jerk to the rest, they still supported him in the end and encouraged him to do the right thing that went with his heart. He felt touched, but tried not to show his sadness and instead put up a grateful, yet stern face. "_Thank you_."

* * *

Meanwhile, the city was in chaos. Without Hoji to deal with her anger, Teresa went on a rampage, empowered with the desires of Vengeance Doggler inside her to attack humanity. She attacked properties and men alike, and was at one point chasing after a fleeing man to a desolate mountain foot. And it was at that time he was saved with a powerful yell.

"WAIT!"

It was Hoji. His presence caused Teresa to avert her attention from that man, and Hoji just looked at him and said, "Now. Run." The man complied and run as Hoji turned back towards Teresa. "Teresa… I'm sorry… this will hurt, but I will wake you up to from this nightmare."

"**Emergency.**" Stoically, he transformed into Deka Blue as Teresa eventually ran towards him, once again the swords on her body was now concentrated onto her front.

"HOJIIII…!"

This time, he was ready. Deka Blue drew his D-Rod and rushed forward to strike at her. She took quite the wound as she knelt down. But she wasn't done yet. She continued her strike, but Deka Blue now could fight back.

No longer was he clouded with guilt, even if he still had it.

No longer was he clouded with doubt.

No longer was he clouded with fear of killing.

No matter what, he would save her.

And in the meantime, while Deka Blue fought, Red Mask and the rest were hiding behind the bushes. As the fight was more personal, they chose not to interfere and instead focused on helping him find a way to save Teresa without killing her. Mega Yellow constantly activated her Digicam Search, hoping that she was mistaken last time. "Where did Kiros go in a time like this?" Red Mask wondered.

* * *

And in the meantime, as Kiros just arrived back to the enemy's base, he felt a bit uneasy as suddenly… "ACHOO!" He snooze.

"That's weird of you sneezing like that." Shibolena, the one who greeted him, said.

"Must've been some girls talking about how awesome I am." Kiros replied, trying to make himself look cool.

"Awesome, huh?" Shibolena mocked, "Then why did you leave her?"

"I don't need to babysit her all the time!" Kiros boasted, "See, at this rate, either that she kills that Deka Blue, or he kills her, and became so devastated that he killed his lover. The outcome is already decided. He'll never have a clear victory!"

* * *

As the fight continued, however, Deka Blue switched from his D-Rod to his D-Knuckle, and resumed his fight further. At one point, however, he managed to punch away just one sword from Teresa's body, and she experienced such great pain. However, at that point, she started speaking slightly more coherently for a short time.

"Hoji… help…"

"That gentle voice…? ! Teresa…!" Deka Blue realized that he's closing in, but Teresa was once again thrown into a fit of madness and attacked him further, causing him to fight back.

"I could hear it…" Ptera Ranger also sensed that, "Teresa was returning to normal temporarily! Hoji! Don't give up!"

"Maybe her weak spot would reveal itself if something happened." Red Mask added, "Chisato, try to concentrate further and see where the weak spot shows itself!"

"It's nowhere in sight!" Mega Yellow, still on her Digicam Search mode, insisted, "We need to make her temporarily sane again!"

"Hmm…" In the meantime, Ninja Black concentrated on looking at the fight. At that point, Deka Blue once again smashed away two of her swords on her body, and after a great pain, she spoke normally again.

"Save me… from this… monster… Doggler…"

"That's it!" Ninja Black noticed and finally knew what was transpiring, "She'd return to normal for a bit if the sword is smashed away! Chisato, now!"

"OK!" At that point, Mega Yellow concentrated further and she finally found something new, "I found it! It looks like the weak spot might be on her… heart…? !"

"Heart? !" Deka Blue was shocked hearing it, this meant a gamble. One small mistake, and Teresa's life would be forfeited. "Damn… this is bad…"

"Don't give up, Hoji!" Ptera Ranger cheered, "You can do it! If you likes reassuring about being _Perfect_, then you can do it!"

"Right, right!" Ninja Black added, "Show us that! Show us that you really are _Super Cool _and_ Perfect_!" For once, he intentionally slipped into Hoji's style of bad English, not for flaunting or taunting, but to encourage him with his own confidence and style.

Deka Blue was silent for awhile, until he finally said, "You… don't need to tell me that!" As he said that, when Teresa tried to ram him with her swords, he grabbed some of them and despite being pushed away, he still held the swords. "AAAAHH!" Yelling and gathering all his strength, Deka Blue spread his arms and tore away several of the swords at once, especially one that was located near her heart. At that point, Teresa backed away as she struggled to get up. Her heart started shining red, and Deka Blue activated his D-Sniper.

"Do… it… Hoji…"

"I'll save you, Teresa." Deka Blue said as he took aim and pulled the trigger. The bullet went through Teresa's body… and it was right on mark. Teresa collapsed as she reverted to her human form. In a sudden, something came out from her… the Vengeance Doggler.

"A Doggler monster!" Red Mask exclaimed as he and the rest approached Deka Blue, "I knew Kiros is involved!"

In the same time, Deka Blue also approached Teresa and checked if she's okay. To his relief, she was not dead, but her wounds were still there. "Are you all right, Teresa?"

"Is that you… Hoji?" Teresa said weakly. Thankfully, the shot wounded Vengeance Doggler greatly that he was unable to attack immediately, giving them a chance to speak, "I'm sorry… I… fell for it… When that monster got inside me… It screamed in my mind, telling me that… that you were the one at fault for Clord's death… and that you betrayed my feelings…"

"I… did." Deka Blue said, "I know you'd never forgive me."

"No… I forgave you… Instead, I was weak and fell to his temptations…" Teresa admitted as well, "Turning me into that… I am sorry…" At that point, Teresa suddenly passed out.

"Oh… Oh no…! Teresa!" Deka Blue panicked. He feared that he really killed her.

"She's okay!" Ptera Ranger assured him, "She's just unconscious!"

"Whew…" Mega Yellow was relieved hearing that, "But we still need to get her to be treated ASAP."

"_Right._" Ninja Black nodded as eventually he sensed that the Vengeance Doggler was back in fighting shape, "And first, we gotta destroy him first."

"Thanks, guys." Deka Blue said, turning towards his friends, "I… couldn't make it this far without you guys." Once that happened, he turned towards the monster, "You dare do this to Teresa…" He said, anger seeping inside him, his fist clenched, before he pointed to the Vengeance Doggler, "Unforgivable! Let's go, everyone!"

"OK!" Even Red Mask didn't try to hog the leadership as they knew this was a personal matter on epic proportion for Deka Blue. However, they would first do the role call first…

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"Even though we are from the different time and team…" After the statement was said by Red Mask, he was followed by Deka Blue, "We are still united as one!"

"We are…! **SUPER SENTAI!**"

There was no response from Vengeance Doggler, as he was unable to speak. Instead, he summoned many Ungler soldiers in response. The Super Sentai met against them head on and attacked them.

As the course was clear, they then concentrated their attacks on the Vengeance Doggler. However, the swords still existed on its body, giving them trouble to attack. However, it dawned to Red Mask about what transpired during the fight with it when it possessed Teresa. "Guys, we gotta do something about the swords. Cut them down!"

"OK!"

As such, when they attacked the Vengeance Doggler, they aimed with their bladed weapons that they cut down the swords on its body, while Mega Yellow used her Blade Arm to cut down the swords. It got weakened and weakened, until it suddenly made a dash with its final sets of swords, now concentrated to Ptera Ranger, the one he thought that couldn't have any cutting weapons.

"You really underestimate me, do you?" Ptera Ranger said as she just cut down the remaining swords with the bow of her Ptera Arrow, rendering it completely powerless, "My Ptera Arrow's bow is bladed, it is just as good as other swords!"

As the Vengeance Doggler stayed weakened, Deka Blue approached him. "This one… needs no Judgment. It is obvious that its deletion will be approved."

"Is that so… Good, then let's finish it off!" Red Mask suggested.

"_OK_!" Ninja Black exclaimed as he went on first. He then casted his ninjutsu, "Ninpo: Rock Fall!" As such, tons of rocks fell onto the monster.

And while the rocks continued to fall, both Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow took aim with their weapons.

"Ptera Arrow!"

"Mega Sling!"

And with that, they shot down several times to the Vengeance Doggler, hitting it along with the falling rocks, creating chaos within it. While it was being barraged, it suddenly stopped when Red Mask already jumped in front of it with his fist ready. "God Hand!" With one punch, he punched a rock that was right in front of him and the monster, as the rock shattered and it was punched right on the face, knocking it away.

In the same time, Ptera Ranger, Ninja Black and Mega Yellow put their hands together for Deka Blue to jump onto and leap. When Red Mask finished punching, he quickly positioned himself so Deka Blue could land on his shoulders and jumped again, already concentrating his legs hard enough so he did not fall. Before the Vengeance Doggler could land, Deka Blue prepared his D-Rod ready and he yelled out before slashing…

"Blue Finish!"

With it, Deka Blue slashed the Vengeance Doggler right on its chest, slashing through the part he shot. This time, it was destroyed for good.

"With this… case _complete_." Deka Blue muttered, but he wasn't in the mood to even claim his usual phrase. Instead, they concentrated on securing Teresa and getting her to the nearest hospital.

* * *

"How is she, doctor? !" Takeru asked the doctor when he came out after treating Teresa. He's also equally worried as Hoji after all.

"Do not worry. She is safe and sound, now sleeping to recover her strength." The doctor said. "She just needs rest, and she'll be back to normal in no time."

"Is that so? That's great!" Chisato said happily.

"Our efforts do pay off after all!" Jiraiya added as he looked at the nearby window, "It's going to be a peaceful night for Teresa. She deserved it."

"Well, isn't that great, Hoji?" Mei smiled at him, hoping that his mood lightened up. However, he was still silent. There was still sadness inside him. At that point, he got up and approached the doctor. "Hoji?"

"Doctor… can I visit her for awhile… alone?"

"Huh? Sure, go ahead." The doctor said as he opened the door and waited outside. Takeru nodded and gestured to the team not to disturb Hoji. This looked like a personal moment for him.

Hoji approached the bed where Teresa slept. He looked at her peaceful face as she was in deep slumber. Sighing, he sat down in a nearby chair and started writing a letter. Once he was done, he put it near Teresa's bed and left the room silently. All four knew that he was terribly saddened with the current events, so they did not call him back for now…

"Teresa… It was our relationship that made you suffer like this… First about Clord… and then now… forgive me. Perhaps it would be better if you just forget about me after all… Your life is bright, but mine is filled with danger everywhere. I will take on the danger and protect you from afar. That… is the best course of action. That's why…

Sleep well, Teresa… Good night. Forget about me… Dream on in your sleep… together with the stars in the sky…

_Good bye… Forever… and ever._

-Tomasu Hoji"

(Author's note: The last phrase was written in perfect English alphabets rather than Katakana)

* * *

For the whole night, Hoji skipped sleeping. He just sat down inside the briefing room of Bonds, too deep into the pain of separating with his lover, even if it's for the best. The door behind him opened as Mei suddenly entered. "Hoji, you're not sleeping?"

"I'm not sleepy. Go to sleep." He answered nonchalantly, like usual.

"Hoji, I…" Mei just approached him from behind, then suddenly circled her arms around Hoji's shoulders to chest, hugging him.

"What are you doing?" He wasn't even struggling, as his tone was still deadpan, "Get off me."

"I can't, Hoji…" Mei insisted, "I know you're sad… But… you didn't do the wrong thing. If it's possible, I wished that you and Teresa would be happy together. But, as much as it hurts you, you had to separate for her well being… I can't leave a friend like you in anguish like this completely…"

"Don't touch me…" Hoji said as his tone suddenly got even sadder, as he was deeply hurt about this separation, even if he did it himself.

"Hoji…" Mei hugged him tighter, trying to be a psyche support for him. A single tear dropped from her eyes, as she felt for his anguish and sadness over love, "It's all right… We are your friends, and we'll be here… in good and hard times… together…"

"Don't… touch… me…" Even strong men cry at times, as eventually Hoji got overwhelmed with his emotions, fell onto a small sobbing and buried his face onto his hands, never wanting to let anyone see his face that was wrecked with tears and sadness as he silently cried. He couldn't even tell Mei to get off him anymore, letting her hug him tighter and even silently cried together with him, hoping that at least her presence would comfort him that he's not alone in this world.

Love can be a source of anguish of men. However… love can also be a potent force of good when utilized properly. Overcome the anguish and fight for love and peace of the world… and keep on going… Super Sentai.

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: And there we have it. For some reason I kinda felt Hoji was quite in the spotlight for this episode, but I hope I don't run much into this kind of overabundance of spotlight. And no worries about romance! If a character is paired, it's only for friendship (yeah, if you notice, I tend to make Blue and Pink a bit close... but it's for friendship, 'kay?) So anyway, look forward to the next chapter! I promise that next chapter won't be as somber as this. Toodles!


	9. Pterasonic in Yellow Concert

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Okay, how should I say it? The title's very corny. Still since the focus here are both Mei and Chisato together (hope I got this across well enough), I hope you'll excuse me. I think the writing for this chapter is kinda weak, but I do hope you'll enjoy this one.**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 9: Ptera-sonic in Yellow Concert  
**

* * *

Hoji recovered past from his pain for separating his lover and the Super Sentai has resumed their normal activity. For the moment, they were having a break, and Chisato invited them to a game center, as it was surprisingly similar to the game center she frequented. And to her surprise… it also contained the Megaranger game…

"_What the… hell…!_" Jiraiya grunted as he saw his character avatar in the game, Mega Black, completely beaten.

"Ah-hah. And that's what you get for underestimating women! Games are not only for boys, you know!" Chisato, the winner of the game, obviously using Mega Yellow, said triumphantly.

"One more time, this time I'll win!" Jiraiya said, preparing another coin to challenge Chisato again, "As a ninja, it's natural to read the enemy's movement and counter it well."

"Sure thing, Jiraiya." Chisato said as she saw Jiraiya put the coin down, until suddenly she grinned, "But can you really translate that concept into video games?" At that point, the match began once more… but once again Jiraiya failed to achieve victory. "Yay."

"_Oh no._" Jiraiya sighed in complete defeat. "Okay, you're the better fighter in video games."

"Yep. I'm not gonna debate on who's stronger in reality, though." Chisato wisely said with a smile, "Games and reality are two different things… I know." She realized that during the battle against Nejirejia Kingdom. Despite using video-game based power, her battle wasn't a game at all, it was a huge life-risking situation.

"Maybe when it's all over…" Jiraiya wondered, reminded with his ally who was an avid video-gamer, "I'll introduce you to a friend of mine. He's good at video games, may be a match for you."

"Oh, then he'll have to meet my whole friends." Chisato smiled back, reminded with her friends, "The concept of Megarangers are based on this very game, so most of them know their stuffs. Especially our red one." Both laughed together as they walked away from the machine, letting other people play the game.

* * *

In the meantime, Takeru also decided to have fun by looking for a game… a racing game, which fits his profession. He noticed an empty seat in a 4-player racing game and asked one of the teens that were just inserting their coins. "Mind if I join in?"

"Sure! Hop in!" The teenager welcomed him as Takeru took the seat.

Since video games were not really evolved in his childhood, it took him awhile until he got the hang of how the game and simulation worked, making him dead last in the race. His opponents got cocky and started to make mistakes, enabling Takeru to catch up and eventually came out victories.

"Whoa, you're a good one, Mister!" One of the teenagers, after getting up, congratulated Takeru, only to be interrupted with another one.

"Wait, I've seen that face!" The other teenager exclaimed, "Are you… Takeru? ! The champion-class F-1 racer? !"

"Yes, that's me. What is…?" Takeru nodded and answered, but he was instead offered several notebooks and a pen from his former opponents.

"Please sign these! We're your fans!" They requested, hanging their heads. Takeru smiled looking at that…they're racing fans! He never thought he'd be that famous, even in this kind of weird timeline. "My God, can't believe we raced with Takeru! A dream come true…!"

"Don't worry about it too much, it's just a game." Takeru said, signing on the notebooks and eventually handing them off, "Real racing and games are whole different things. I guess I just got lucky this time… Well, have fun!" After he handed back the notebooks, he left those fans, who waved goodbye on him.

* * *

In the same time, Mei has been using the doll-pickup machine. She was down to her last coin, and yet she has yet to give up. There was a cute dinosaur doll in the shape of Pteranodon amongst the dolls and she wanted it. Knowing that she shouldn't waste any further cash, she put her hands in prayers and silently prayed. 'Please let me be able to get that doll… Forgive me, but it is so cute I cannot resist…! And it reminds me of the Guardian Beast Pteranodon…'

After she was done hoping, she inserted the coin and carefully moved the crane. "Okay… here… there and…!" She hoped and hoped, looking at where the crane moved… Until suddenly someone grabbed her hand and moved it away from the button to move the crane, causing the crane to drop down and began picking. "Ah!" Mei gasped, shocked that it didn't go as she planned and as she looked back, she saw Hoji being the one who pulled her hand. "Hoji! That was rude!"

"Aren't you a bit too old for this?" Hoji asked, "And I heard you were one of the more serious ones…"

"I'm not completely stiff, thank you." Mei shot back, ignoring a chiming sound that the machine produced, "I may be a warrior, but I do know that deep down… I am a girl, in touch with my…"

"Um, sis…?" In a sudden, there was a girl who tugged her clothes from behind, causing Mei to look at her and quickly added a smile on her face to face the girl.

"Yes?"

"You got the doll…" On the girl's notification, Mei finally realized that she might've caught something. She grabbed her prize and to her surprise… it was her long-sought Pteranodon doll!

"Ah! Thank you for reminding me!" Mei smiled at the girl as she smiled back and left. Thus, she hugged her doll, "I've finally gotten it!"

"In touch with what, again?" Hoji asked, as her sentence was not complete back then.

"In touch with my… femininity." Mei answered, but her face wasn't annoyed anymore. Instead, she smiled at him.

"Well, you got what you want." Hoji concluded the conversation and was about to leave, looking that Takeru, Jiraiya and Chisato were coming after him. However, Mei tugged his hand a little.

"Maybe you didn't mean it, but if you didn't pull my arm before… I might not be able to get this…" Mei answered, looking a bit shy that a rude act managed to give her what she wanted. Perhaps Hoji did it on purpose? She had no idea, nor did she expect an aloof man like him to do so, but she was grateful as she held his hand with a smile planted on her face, "Thank you… Hoji."

"_Don't mind_." Hoji gave a short answer. But at least deep down, he's glad Mei was enjoying herself. While he wouldn't say it out loud, he really did appreciate that friendship hug from the previous night.

"Hey, where've you been?" Takeru asked, surprised that he hadn't seen Hoji in the entertainment center before and now he just appeared, "Everyone here's having fun, you should as well."

"_Sorry_, can't do that while criminals are abound." Hoji gave a short answer.

"Come on now…" Chisato added, "I know you're still in the SPD, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun."

"Not that, but perhaps it's just my instinct and upbringing. Even if I am not officially with the SPD as of now…" Hoji sighed, reminded of the Deka Base's collapse, "I just can't stand it when there are criminals. Just like recently, I just caught a purse thief and handed him down to the local police. This town's police force doesn't seem to be run with the SPD so I can't waltz around showing my SP License and arresting criminals."

"Of course you will apprehend Alienizers when they arrive, right?" Jiraiya asked, "You said they're intergalactic threat…"

"Of course. By the way…" Hoji then pulled out a flyer paper from his pocket, "The woman that got her purse stolen gave this to me as a token of gratitude. I do not know what to do about it though."

"Huh? Let me see…" Takeru said as he read the flyer paper from Hoji, "A singing contest? Free entry, with exciting prizes?" Attached to the flyer is a smaller paper, "And this is… the ticket?"

"This looks exciting…" Mei wondered.

"I do not know…" Hoji said, "Could be a trap. And if not, if Mei enters, then there may be a problem awaiting the speaker…" However, at that moment, he shut up, as he realized that Mei just stomped his feet.

"What, were you annoyed at my voice?" Mei asked, "Well excuse me for having a naturally high-pitched voice!"

"Well, there goes your mouth again…" Jiraiya sighed, "No need to worry, Mei. If you want to enter, go ahead. We'll cheer for you… Right, Hoji?"

"O… of course…" Hoji muttered as Mei put her foot away, leaving him to just wiggle his feet as unnoticeable as he could.

"Well, there's only one ticket, though." Takeru noted, "Perhaps Chisato would be interested instead?"

"Oh… right." Mei backed down at that statement, "Perhaps it'd be selfish if I got in without asking for how Chisato felt…" However, at that moment, Chisato was completely silent. "Chisato? Do you like singing?" She asked.

"… Huh? Oh, yes I do." Chisato answered, as if she just woke up from her sleep.

"Are you thinking of entering too?" Mei innocently asked, until suddenly Chisato interrupted.

"Uh… sorry, but I'll be going ahead. I… got an assignment that I gotta finish." She suddenly ran out of the entertainment center.

"Well, there she goes…" Jiraiya said, looking at Chisato, "But I gotta admit… there's something strange about this attitude…"

"Agreed." Hoji nodded, but suddenly he saw Mei running off, to Chisato's direction. "H-hey! Mei! Where are you going…"

"Maybe for some girls talk… don't worry about it." Takeru tapped on Hoji's shoulder, assuring that everything will be okay, "And on the other hand I think I've had enough fun for today. So what now?"

"Something bugs me about that one criminal I caught…" Hoji suddenly thought something. "I'm gonna go check the database in Bonds."

* * *

Just as Chisato entered her apartment, someone knocked the door. When she opened it, turned out Mei was the one in front of the door. "Am I… interrupting with something?"

"Not really. Come in." Chisato smiled as she let Mei in, "Welcome to my apartment."

"It's small, but tidy." Mei commented as she looked at the interior of her room. However, she was quick enough to get back on topic, "Why did you leave abruptly? I thought…"

"Is it about singing?" Chisato sighed and said, "I am honest when I said I like singing. It's just that…" As she spoke, she lowered her head, "I just have bad luck with singing contest…"

"Bad luck?" Mei asked curiously.

"You see…" Chisato then started telling Mei about her story… "When I was of high school age, I love singing. I always wanted to show my singing to public, but for some reason, everytime there's a contest, there's always some obstacle. Whether it's cold, nose sickness or throat sickness… But the most embarrassing one… was during my tenure as a Megaranger."

"Embarrassing? How so?"

"Well there's this Nejire Beast that appeared before the School Festival…" Chisato then told her about this Nejire Beast that stole her voice… Canary Nejire, "The School Festival also held a singing contest, and I wasn't even being sick at all. I was really confident that I could finally sing for the school… then this Nejire Beast named 'Canary Nejire' came and swapped his mannish, boorish voice to my voice, making me sound like a man. I and the Megarangers retrieved my voice back, but by the time it returned, the festival's over and I was only able to share it to my class."

"That's… horrible." Mei commented, she wouldn't know what to do if her voice was swapped like that.

"It's the past now, but I just feel like I'm not destined to enter any singing contests at all." Chisato sighed as her tale ended, "That's why you can enter if you want. If I enter, there'll be something that gets in the way and I'll end up squandering it."

"You shouldn't give up like that, Chisato!" Mei, however, stood up and tried encouraging her, "Maybe this time you will successfully enter! Try to be optimistic! You never know till you try!"

"Mei…" Chisato was stunned at hearing Mei's insistence. Perhaps she's right, she shouldn't give up just like that. She was about to accept Mei's offer to enter the contest in her place… Until suddenly she heard from the outside, screams of people and mirrors breaking. "It looks like my answer will have to wait. Let's check out what happened!" Mei nodded in response and followed Chisato to get out of the apartment.

* * *

"Calconian Finix." Hoji, while looking at the computer screen, which worked as a database for Alienizers too, noted, looking at a blond-haired creature with a form of a bird whose beak looked like a saxophone. "A wanted Alienizers that I would've investigated if this didn't happen."

"Whoa…" Takeru was quite surprised as he saw the Alienizer, "I don't know, but these Alienizers look rather… weird."

"They're not like your run-in-the-mill monsters, as I've seen before." Hoji explained, "They do have powers, but they commit crime through more insidious, indirect means, by manipulating the innocents to do their biddings."

"They're just the same as those Youkais. Manipulating people like that, they're just monsters with different name." Jiraiya clenched his fist in anger hearing it. As a ninja, he couldn't stand injustices as such.

"So why's he on the list here, and why the sudden interest?" Takeru inquired further.

"Well, one of the criminals I apprehended previously mentioned that he was being blackmailed… that's just him all right…" Hoji said as he clicked further to show Finix's crimes, "He owns an underground recording company and desires a 'perfect voice' or such… in which he supplies with his ever-growing serum. However, the serum tends to backfire and people ends up having their voice volume increased way higher than usual, making them outcasted. He drove many people to suicide that way, not just the earth, but in about 13 planets. He has been marked for Deletion. I just think that we may run into him…"

At that moment, however, there were beeping sounds as Takeru looked into his Masky Brace. Chisato has contacted him, "Takeru! There's an emergency situation here!"

"Calm down, Chisato! What went wrong?" Takeru asked her.

"There's a lot of people who suddenly developed high-pitched voices…" As Chisato said that, a really high-pitched voice was heard from the brace, forcing Takeru, Hoji and Jiraiya to close their ears for awhile, "There's a monster behind this, it would seem, we'll need help at once! Over!" To prevent such thing again, Chisato cut off the communication.

"Damn it, what is it this time… a Dora Monster? Or a Youkai?" Jiraiya wondered.

"High pitched voice…?" Hoji suddenly noticed what happened, "Could it be Finix…?"

"Regardless, we'll answer to their help. Let's go!" Takeru suggested as the boys nodded and went away, to teleport from Bonds and enter the site where the battle has begun...

* * *

The town was in chaos as Chisato described. Many people were in panic and everytime they spoke, they only let out a very high-volumed voice that both she and Mei needed to close their ears as they run off. "Everyone, please calm down!" Mei attempted to calm the crowd, "Do not speak, it would just make things worse!" But it wasn't very useful as the panic has been going on rather long.

"Hey, what is that…!" Chisato then saw two figures walking. Two humanoid beings, one looked like the description of Finix while the other one was a weird creature, rather completely naked and having wrinkled and hairy body and bulged out eye.

"Not good enough, Uwan." Finix said to the creature, "Try it out on that one!"

"Uwaaaan!" The creature, only saying his name, just yelled and unleashed a beam that struck a fleeing civilian. The civilian screamed but once the beam hit him, the scream became high pitched that he had to cover his eyes while screaming.

"Heh heh… this is music to my ears! Agent Abrellar's offering is awesome!" Finix said, clasping his hand, before eventually the two of them received a leaping kick from both Mei and Chisato. "Urgh! Who dares? !"

"Did you say 'Abrellar'? !" Chisato asked.

"You dare attack me like that? !" Finix replied back angrily, "So… I suppose you're that Super Sentai…!"

* * *

_In the past, Finix needed to capture people to get his serum planted. However, this process was a very slow one as he's having trouble capturing people. Especially after the defeat of Abrellar by the Dekarangers, most of his friends end up captured one by one. He was addicted to see the people in chaos due to the serum he got, recording it and creating a variety of sounds which he could sell in the Black Market, which for some reason has some catering about 'scream of suffering'._

_It was then at that time, he was being visited… by none other than the man himself. "Agent Abrellar, you lived? !" Finix said in surprise as Abrellar entered his quarters._

"_I am back and well, Finix. There's something I'd like to sell to you." As Abrellar said that, he snapped his finger, and thus Gasha Dokuro came in along with a small tube containing air. "I believe this monster inside can help enhance your business."_

"_Monster?" Finix asked._

"_I'm just going to explain once, so listen up!" Gasha Dokuro said, "Inside this tube is a Youkai named Uwan. It is a formless monster who sends out ear-piercing cry of 'Uwaaan!' for any who enters a building where the monster resides. However, with your help, we can make him a threat to humanity. We can give him a form and enable him to strike outside certain places rather than being stuck!"_

"_Really, and what's in it for me?" Finix asked._

"_With your help, we can make this 'Uwan' a monster that affects people voices…" Abrellar added, "So rather than capturing people to be injected to the serum, think of it like a living gun for your serum that you can shoot to anyone. Enough chatter, let us begin."_

"_Wait, how much will this cost for me?" Finix said as Gasha Dokuro put the tube on a nearby table._

"_For free. In a way." Abrellar said as he began to scour for tools to bring out the monster. Along with Finix, he worked by injecting various chemical liquids onto the tube. In a short time, eventually the tube was covered in gas and the Youkai Uwan was born._

"_This is it…" Finix said, looking at Uwan, "But it looked a bit weird."_

"_Uwaaaan!" In a quick moment, Uwan yelled and unleashed a beam, hitting an unaware Gasha Dokuro._

"_Hey what giv—" When Gasha Dokuro attempted to protest, suddenly his voice became so high pitched many of the bottles and glasses within Finix's quarter ended up breaking as he had to cover his ears. As Abrellar was based on a bat, such high volume voice was no problem for him._

"_Nooo! My… my stuffs…!" Finix lamented._

"_Success… Do not worry, Finix. This damage can be brought back with the money you get from Black Market from the recording of that." Abrellar said._

"_Hey, am I to be stuck with—" Gasha Dokuro tried to protest again but once again his voice ended up breaking more glasses._

"_Okay, this is irritating if it hits the wrong person." Abrellar said as he tapped on Uwan's shoulder, "Hit him again with it."_

"_Uwaaan!" As it screamed, it let out another beam which hit Gasha Dokuro._

"_Ah, oh, ahem…" Gasha Dokuro then tried speaking and realized that his voice was back to normal. However, there was something that made him angry, "How dare you make a fool out of me, damn Youkai!" He swung his sword, attempting to cut down the Youkai, but the Alienizer held his arm and prevented him._

"_This is my property now. You ruin it, you'll pay for me." Finix warned._

"_Grr…" Gasha Dokuro grumbled as he put down his sword, "Just so you know, this baby's a bit hard to leave alone, so I suggest that you accompany him while he does his thing."_

"_Yes, this is no time to worry about being exposed, or else it may hit the same person twice and reduce your fortune." Abrellar added "Go ahead and gather your fortune. But remember… should you see any of those Super Sentai, I want you to drop whatever you're doing and eliminate them first." As he said that he handed down several portraits, which included Takeru's, Hoji's, Mei's, Jiraiya's and Chisato's. "This is how they look like outside their guise."_

"_Is that the payment?" Finix said, before eventually he grinned, "Fine then! I've heard about those Dekaranger wannabes out there. I've wanted to kick their asses too…" _

"_Good…" Gasha Dokuro said as he snapped his finger, bringing forth Dorodoros soldiers, "Aside of the Mechanoids that the Agent provides you, I'll provide you these as well…"_

* * *

"Okay, Uwan, stop right there!" Finix said, tapping his hand on the Youkai's shoulder, "I hope as hell you have what it takes to fight, other than that voice-increasing beam!"

"Uwaan!" The monster once again screamed and unleashed another beam, this time from the eye rather than mouth, aimed to Mei and Chisato. The two girls instinctively dodged, as the eye beam caused physical damages thus destroyed the environment instead.

"Why you!" Chisato growled in annoyance as she ran towards Finix, attacking him before he could do further damage to the society, "Are these high-pitched fiasco your doing? !"

"Yeah, what of it?" Finix said, "These are good business!"

"Good… business…? !" Chisato angrily retorted as she attempted to kick Finix, but his skin was too hard to penetrate through the kick and she was deflected back, "Is this how you do things…? ! You take suffering as ecstasy? ! Unforgivable!"

"That's what it takes to be an Alienizer, girl! Don't you forget!" Finix said as he raised his hand. Suddenly, an electric guitar materialized in front of him and as he grabbed it, he beckoned, "Now this is the fruits of my labor. Where all those high pitched scream come into!"

He played the guitar, and in a sudden, there were various super sonic waves produced from the guitar's loud sound, as Chisato had a hard time dodging while she had to cover her ears. "Rats! Guys, hurry…"

In the meantime, Mei was attacking Uwan. When she went for a leaping kick, Uwan just stood there. As her feet touched the monster, Mei felt her body going through it. "Eh? !" She gasped as she fell to the ground, "The monster's invincible? !" As it turned out, it didn't take long for Uwan to deliver physical attacks towards Mei, and it got even worse as in the meantime, Finix also played his guitar to unleash sonic waves, causing her to close her ears too.

However, Mei managed to glance that suddenly Uwan was opening its mouth. "Uwaaan!" With that yell, it unleashed a beam… aimed towards Chisato.

"Watch out!" Mei instinctively leapt and pushed Chisato out of the way as she ended up taking the beam and fell to the ground.

"Mei!" Chisato, as she got up, approached Mei and checked if she's okay. She was opening her eyes, but before she could say anything, they heard familiar cries…

"LASER MAGNUM!"

"KAKULASER!"

There came Red Mask, Deka Blue and Ninja Black, shooting at Finix. For the record, Deka Blue did shoot with his SP Shooter, but did not call its name. "Mei! Chisato! Are you okay?" Red Mask asked in which Chisato just nodded.

"_Hey_, that looks like…" Ninja Black noted, pointing to Finix.

"Calconian Finix…" Deka Blue muttered, recognizing who he was, "This time, I will carry out that Deletion order. Prepare yourself."

"Damn you, Dekaranger! Getting in my way, now bringing wannabes!" Finix complained, before calling forth, "Uwan, to me!"

"Uwan? Hey! That's a youkai!" Ninja Black finally concluded, "Damn, so this time it's both Gasha Dokuro and that Abrellar sending their minions!"

"Regardless, I don't suppose there's much room to talk about it." Red Mask said as he helped Mei and Chisato get up, "We'll finish up here!"

"OK, Mei, let's do it!" Chisato said to Mei as the latter nodded and she prepared to transform… "**Install, Megaranger!**" She then transformed, thus making Mei's cue to transform…

"**DINO BUCK—**" As soon as she spoke that, suddenly an extremely high pitched voice came out from her lungs, causing the rest of the Super Sentai to kneel down and cover their ears.

"_What the hell? !_" Ninja Black shouted, complaining.

"Mei, what is wrong? ! When did your voice…!" Red Mask asked, as Mei only looked confused.

"Eh? I… I don't kno—" Mei started out lowering her voice a little, but even she gasped at how high her volume of voice was even when whispering. At the gasp, even more high pitched voice was out, forcing the Super Sentai to cover their ears again… including Mei.

"I don't know, just shut up for a moment!" Deka Blue said, harshly, but out of necessity, "They must've messed with your lungs or something!"

"Hahaha! It worked!" Finix said triumphantly as he tapped Uwan's back, "Good job, Uwan! Now then, Super Sentai… how about you take this…!" Once again he played his guitar, sending forth supersonic waves to the team. The team managed to cover themselves, but obviously Mei instinctively screamed, causing a hyper supersonic wave coming out from her mouth, damaging her teammates and even shattering glasses here and there.

"Oh no!" Mega Yellow gasped, looking at this condition, "At this rate, Mei will end up leveling the whole city!"

Mei was about to gasp again, but this time Red Mask had enough instinct to clamp her mouth with his hand, preventing her to speak further. Even then, because the gasp was still high pitched enough, it left quite a force to his hand. "Guess we have no choice! We're retreating for now!"

"Leave it to me! Gather round, guys!" Ninja Black said to his friends as they gathered round. Before Finix could send forth another sonic wave, he threw a smoke bomb to the ground, enabling them to escape.

"Ran away, huh." Finix said in a cocky manner, "Good! Now the Super Sentai won't even pose a threat, even if they lived! Now let's go farm more money this way!"

* * *

"I mean, what just happened here? !" Back in Bonds, Chisato tried asking Takeru and the rest about what just conspired, "Why did Mei…"

"Okay, calm down a little and let me explain." Jiraiya said as he got Chisato to sit down, "Apparently we're dealing with the Youkai Uwan. Daimaou never unleashed him to the Kakurangers, but we know what it could do. It's a Youkai that lets out chilling voices to a house it inhabited. It wasn't supposed to be malicious and formless, but…"

"And then?" Chisato asked.

"I guess it's Finix's modifications that made him the way he is now." Hoji concluded, "Right now it attacks other people… But was increasing one's voice volume its original ability?"

"Usually not, but with Daimaou's influence in the past, it was able to." Jiraiya answered, "Uwan was an advanced Youkai, but even he was sealed because even Daimaou knew how destructive his abilities were."

"So basically, with Finix's modifications, it is now given form and able to unleash its volume-increasing ability to everyone?" Takeru summarized, "And now it got Mei?"

"I'm afraid so." Jiraiya sighed as he looked around. Mei wasn't even together with them, in fear that she would be unable to control her own voice and wrecked the whole base.

"_God damn!_" In frustration, Hoji smashed his fist to a nearly table, also saddened at what befell to Mei, "And there's nothing we can do about it? ! Come on, Jiraiya! There has to be something that we can do!"

"Hoji, calm down! We will find a way!" Takeru managed to stop Hoji from giving in to frustrations, "You think I want constantly keep Mei away from the battles? ! She wouldn't like it either! I know she wants to protect those dear to her rather than depending on us, that's why we can't be frustrated like this. You think she want to see us like this? !"

"Kuh… damn those two… Finix…" Hoji sighed as he held his head, holding his frustration, "And that Abrellar too…! I'm willing to bet that he's the one sending that kind of idea to Finix…!"

"Exactly." Suddenly the Bonds' computer's main screen showed an image of both Abrellar and Gasha Dokuro, "How do you do, Super Sentai? I hope you enjoyed my present to you."

"Present? Do you mean Mei having her voice volume increased highly? !" Chisato angrily retorted, "How dare you! Return her voice to normal!"

"It's a present, so we cannot take it back! You just enjoy that your friend has a wonderfully destructive voice now!" Gasha Dokuro said as he also laughed, "And soon, many humans would also share that fate… and you cannot even interfere! This will be like we have already won!"

"It's what you get for destroying my business… Dekaranger…" Abrellar added as Hoji started clenching his fist, "This is my revenge."

"Mine too. You'll see, Kakuranger…" Gasha Dokuro also beckoned to Jiraiya, "I will create a reign of terror far worse than my father ever did, what happened to your friend is a mere friction of it!"

"Are you done talking?" Takeru then interrupted, before talking, "Maybe you think you've won… I don't think so. We will come back up and turn the tables. You can mark our words on that… because we are Super Sentai, we've come through a lot of harsh battles where things weren't on our favor, but we managed to pull through! You can tell that Finix that we will return triumphantly and destroy him… and then you'll be next."

"What? !" Abrellar was about to protest, but Takeru just pushed some buttons and the monitor was turned off.

"Hoji, you better make sure that nobody hijacks our monitor like that again." Takeru said, knowing that Hoji could do his job on this one.

"Of course."

"In the meantime…" Takeru then turned towards Jiraiya, "Let's dig in further about this Uwan and how to defeat him…"

"Eh?" Jiraiya asked, "I thought you're gonna say 'Just kick its ass, like usual!'"

"Nope. I did saw how Mei's attacks went through it." Takeru nodded, recalling that he did saw Mei trying to kick it, but ended up going through it, "I think there's got to be a secret on how attacks could went through it. Especially when you said it was supposed to be formless…"

As they spoke, however, Chisato went out. "Huh? Where are you going, Chisato?" Hoji asked.

"To Mei." Chisato said, "She needs support the most at this time."

* * *

"Those Super Sentai is just waiting for the inevitable." Abrellar said after realizing that his communication got cut off.

"So, what now? Do you think that Finix and Uwan will do their job?" Shibolena, who was also nearby, asked.

"They will, no need to worry." Gasha Dokuro said as he pulled a remote, as he was also quite savvy with technology at times, "I'm looking for a different breed of quenching."

"What?" Kiros asked as suddenly the screen showed Mei just sitting down on a nearby bench, "What? You're now into ogling girls?"

"I don't. I just look at her and see how she suffers from her condition." Gasha Dokuro answered as he clasped his hand. He saw a small child approaching her.

"Hey sis… want to play?"

And Mei was unable to answer, only looking at the child with a sad look. The child eventually left, and Gasha Dokuro knew that she was in despair, thus satisfying him, "Hahaha! It's been awhile since I felt such human anguish and despair!"

"Go have your fun, then." Abrellar said as he wanted no part in it, completely uninterested, but before he left, he asked Shibolena, "Has anyone saw Lamie now?"

"That…" Shibolena knew what happened to Lamie, and thus she tried her best to answer, "She's learning the arts of creating Dora Monsters on her own. We should not disturb her."

"Interesting." Abrellar said, "As far as I heard, she usually depended on Bandora's servant Pleprechuan in order to create Dora Monsters. This time, she's on her own. I look forward to see what kind of monster she will create in the future…"

* * *

As the child left, Mei knew his face was rather sour, thinking that the big sister didn't want to play with her. 'I wish I could play with you… but at this rate… Oh…!' She wanted to speak, but knew that even a small whisper could be disastrous. She noticed that there was a tear dropping from her eyes. She wanted to cry at this situation, that she was robbed from her right to speak, even if nothing was gagging her. But even she knew that sobbing and sniffing was also out of question as it could spell disaster. All she could do was to wipe that tear off her face and looked down, not wanting to have people see her gloomy face. She pulled out her Pteranodon doll she got before and to try easing her pain, she hugged it after several seconds of looking at it.

"Mei…" A voice called out to her. It was Chisato, but as usual, Mei couldn't even reply. "Here you go!" Chisato then gave her a juice in which she picked up and showed her face to Chisato. "Hey, what's with that gloomy face? You know you look better when you smile. That gloomy face didn't mix well with your cute doll."

Mei attempted to force a smile, but even that failed. She couldn't do it. All she could do was to just drink from the juice through a straw. Chisato realized it and looked to Mei's face.

"I'm sorry… I was supposed to be hit from that… You protected me and look at what happened to you." Chisato said, recalling what happened before, "I knew you wanted to be in that singing competition… But you wanted me to enter, right? Mei…"

Mei shook her head, as if telling her not to worry about her condition, however Chisato instead hugged her, "We'll find a way to restore you, Mei. And after that, you enter the contest. we'll make sure of that…! That's why you can't keep this gloomy face forever! What will your audience say if you look like this, Mei? Smile, Mei… not just for us… for everyone! We won't abandon you…"

Mei tried her best to tell Chisato that she didn't mind about Chisato entering the contest, but even so, she was touched with Chisato's heartful cheering. She ended up hugging her back and somehow, her warm feelings made her smile once more, even if Chisato didn't see it… until…

"That's a beautiful smile." Suddenly, Takeru walked there and commented, having seen Mei smiling gladly. Both girls knew what was going on and released their hugs.

"Takeru, that was sudden!" Chisato exclaimed, until she realized what Takeru said. When she looked at Mei, she was already smiling again, glad that she had friends that still would help her, "Mei… you finally smiled…!"

"Am I interrupting something?" Takeru asked.

"No, no. We're OK." Chisato said, "So what is it Takeru? Did you…"

"Yes… we got a plan ready."

* * *

Finix and Uwan's rampage continued as most of the screams taken from Uwan's heightened voice volume beam were absorbed into Finix's guitar. "Hehehe… this is awesome! With this, there'll be a lot to sell!" Just as he said that, he stopped, not looking at Uwan. "Wait a minute… if I gather this much power, I don't need to sell things… This empowers my guitar so much… Power can generate money, and with enough power… I will be the ruler of the universe! And even that Agent will become my slave this way… All right, Uwan! I've decided! From this day forward, we'll work on to be the rulers of the universe!"

"Uwaaan!" Finix didn't even need to look as that was all Uwan could say. In his mind, Uwan must've been saying, 'What a genius idea, Mister Finix! I'll follow you everywhere!'

"You sure enjoy listening to your own voice." Suddenly there was a male voice heard from behind him.

"Yeah, my voice sure is beautiful, eh?" Finix boasted, not even bothering to turn back.

"Well if I have to rate it…" The voice continued as it continued to become sour, "It's just plain horrible, just like your heart."

"What? !" Finix yelled and turned back as he eventually saw Takeru just standing there proudly. "Not you again, Super Sentai? ! Damn it, Uwan! To me!"

"Oh, he's not gonna help you all right." Takeru said as he stepped aside and saw Uwan being trapped inside a web… metallic webs to be exact, made of metals meant to absorb sound. The metallic web was connected to a certain tube, which was held by Mei, who stood next to Hoji, Jiraiya and Chisato.

"Walked right to the ninja trap because you didn't look over him." Chisato stated, which further irritated Finix.

"Bah! Doesn't matter! Once you have your volume increased, you'll be screaming for mercy!" Finix stated, still overconfident. He started stepping forward, "Uwan, we combine our strength! Make them scream as I obliterate them with my guitar!" Takeru didn't even flinch at Finix's threat. "What? ! You're not even scared at…" However, at that moment, Finix suddenly found himself stepping onto a trap where another metallic web surrounded and ensnared him, "AAAALLL? !"

"You didn't see that the web is connected to the ground?" Jiraiya taunted, "Well, you are not a ninja after all."

"Bastard! But you won't be so cocky when Uwan…" Finix stated, still overconfident when.

"_OK. _ That's enough." Hoji pointed as he put his hand forward, gesturing to stop. He then turned to Mei. "Now, Mei…"

Mei nodded and put the tube on her mouth… and then screamed as loud as she could. The sound entered the web and went through those inside the web, in this case Finix and Uwan, and the web's material was made specifically to absorb sounds, thus preventing them to get out of the outer area or damaging the surrounding property.

"AAAH! DAMN, STOP STOP STOP!" Finix begged as he closed his ears, "Damn it! Of all people to get hit with Uwan's attack, it's someone whose voice is this cacophonic!"

"Don't you just love making people scream like that? Wasn't that like… 'music to your ears'?" Hoji then taunted with sarcasm, "Well, enjoy the music you liked so much then. So very relaxing, right?"

"SHUT UP!" Finix yelled, still holding his ears, "Damn it, this cacophonic, ugly voice…! It's ruining my…!"

"Ugly? ! Don't you dare insult Mei's voice!" Chisato yelled, "Sure it may be originally high pitched, but I will say one thing about it… It's cute! And just about the right pitch for cute!"

"Agh! Damn it! What the heck is so cute about that!" Finix taunted, "It's horrid! Now get it off my ears!"

"I think he's really gluttonous about punishment…" Takeru joked as he looked at Mei, "Say, Mei… what do you personally think when someone said your voice is horrid?"

Mei was pissed. She never did flaunt her voice talent, but she just didn't take insults like that very well, especially from one who heightened people's voice volume for something insidious. She instead increased her yelling power, causing even more pain to the two monsters.

At that point, however, there was a cracking sound. "What was…? ! Oh… oh no! Nooo!" Finix screamed as he realized what was going on… his guitar was cracking. As his guitar played a big part in bringing out a form for Uwan, it ended up depowered and weakening the Youkai. While screaming, suddenly in the web where Uwan was trapped, a bug came out.

"Ew!" Chisato instinctively was frightened at the sight of such bug.

"Hey, wait…" Jiraiya then looked at the bug. It certainly was not a normal bug, and it shared the color of Uwan's form's skin. "Maybe this bug was from… Uwan?"

Suddenly, they heard coughing. Mei was at her limit and she coughed. "Mei! Are you OK?" Chisato ran to her and pulled something out, a bottle of water, "I bet you're thirsty. Here, drink it."

"Thank you…" Mei was about to answer, but gasped and closed her mouth, fearing that her voice would destroy things. However, nothing happened. "Eh?"

"I see." Hoji nodded as Jiraiya threw a shuriken to the bug that just went out of the web and it was destroyed, "So Uwan's beam planted the bug inside that throat and for some reason it would increase one's voice volume. Which means…"

"My voice! It's back to normal!" Mei said happily as she held her neck a little. Her smile grew bigger as she was about to yell, signifying her happiness… until she suddenly coughed. Regardless of her voice returning to normal, she just screamed for a long time and her throat was getting rather sore.

"I'm glad for your voice, Mei. But you need to drink this first." Chisato then handed down the bottle of water, which Mei immediately drank, "There, better?"

"Yes!" Mei nodded, before she turned to everyone, "Thank you everyone! For my sake…"

"That's what friends for, right?" Takeru assured before he started detecting something coming. "Whoa!" He then jumped sideways as there was a wave of energy aimed towards the metallic web. It shatters and destroyed the webs, freeing Finix and Uwan.

"D… damn it! You're late, Igaroid!" Finix complained as an orange-like mechanical being approached him.

"So at least Abrellar still sells those, I see." Hoji noted as the team gathered together.

"It's been quite awhile, Dekaranger." The Igaroid, being able to speak, said, "And some pretenders too."

"It doesn't matter if I'm a pretender or not." Mei then spoke, after quite awhile being forced to be silent, as Uwan also gathered near the Igaroid. "I will never forgive you who makes many people suffer by messing with their precious voices… including mine!"

"And we'll show you that we're more than just pretenders… We're on a whole different league." Takeru continued as he looked at the rest, "Let's go!"

"OK!"

"**AURA MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

And the five finally transformed. The Igaroid looked shocked because only one matched his experience of watching. "So, it's more than just Dekarangers… Interesting."

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"Even though we are from the different time and team…" Red Mask began, in which followed by Ptera Ranger, "We are still united as one!"

"We are…! **SUPER SENTAI!**" And the team finally exclaimed, along with the necessary explosions.

"Damn it! Protect me!" Finix panicked, with his guitar malfunctioning, there was nothing he could do. Igaroid just grabbed a grenade, lobbed it to the ground and summoned various Anaroids, accompanied with Dorodoros soldiers. Along with Uwan, the Igaroid and the soldiers made a dash to the team. And of course the team was ready to intercept them as they fight them off soldiers by soldiers, eventually drawing them away from the city and they were fighting in plains.

At one point, however Ninja Black was facing against the Igaroid itself. "You look different. Perhaps you're some sort of elite."

"Close to right. Still won't matter when I'm done with you!" As the Igaroid said that, Uwan came close to him.

"Uwaaan!" It let out the normal, damaging eye beam, while the Igaroid swung its sword upwards.

"CROSS BURST!"

The sudden attack hit Ninja Black head on, but when the dust cleared from it, he was gone. The ground behind the Igaroid suddenly bursted and Ninja Black reappeared behind him, then kicked him upwards before continuing with a leap and punching him several times before grabbing him and sending him downwards head on.

Just as he was done with the Igaroid, he turned towards Uwan and prepared his personal weapon. "Black Bow!" With that, he shot down the monster, only for the arrows to go through it. "Gah! Forgot that because it used to be formless, attacks went through it!"

"He must've a weak spot or something!" Deka Blue stated, "There has to!"

"Let me search it! Digicam Search!" Mega Yellow stepped forward and activated the Search, as it suddenly zoomed into something… the stomach area. "Over there! Now then…" She then unleashed both her Mega Sniper and Mega Sling and combined them into… "Sling Sniper!" She took aim as Uwan prepared to blast her off. Her aim was true, as before Uwan could blast her, she blasted the spot first. The Youkai screamed as it rolled on the ground.

"I'll follow up! Ranger Gun!" Ptera Ranger exclaimed as she unleashed her side-arm, the Ranger Gun and shot on the part shot by Mega Yellow. However, even though she shot many times and not all of them were really accurate on the spot, she still hit it. "I guess that destroyed its capabilities to get through attacks!" She concluded as she put her gun away and unleashed her bow, "I'll finish it with my Ptera Arrow!" With one concentrated shot, channeling all her strength as the Princess of the Risha tribe, Ptera Ranger pierced through Uwan's skins and it was powerful enough to destroy it.

"Heh, keep yourself occupied while there's just me…" The Igaroid said as he saw Uwan destroyed and the rest of the Anaroids were attacking the male warriors. "CROSS BURST!" He launched his ground wave again, but this was anticipated.

"Not gonna happen! God Hand!" Red Mask channeled his fist with power once more and instead punched the ground, causing a rock geyser that blocked the Cross Burst. "Okay, your turn!" He then spread his arms, letting both Deka Blue and Ninja Black leap from his shoulders.

"D-Sniper!"

"Black Bow!"

Both shot their weapons to the Igaroid, those were fatal shots and it destroyed him. In the end, the warriors finished off both Anaroids and Dorodoros soldiers as they confronted Finix. "Eee… help…!"

"Calconian Finix! You've been long approved for Deletion." Deka Blue stated, "Begging for help won't help you!"

"All right, let's finish this up!" Red Mask said as eventually all warriors prepared for the final strike as eventually Red Mask and Ninja Black closed in and attacked Finix with the Masky Crash and Kakure-Ryuu Nagareboshi. After that was done, Deka Blue shot his legs with the D-Sniper with exactly two bullets and he fell once Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow performed a simultaneous shot with Ptera Arrow and Mega Sling straight onto his heart, destroying him for good.

"_Got you!_" Deka Blue said, finally closing in one criminal case he hadn't solved since that time, "With this, case _complete_!"

And then there was an awkward silence.

"Uh…" Ninja Black noted, "Isn't this where you usually say…"

"Not saying that." Deka Blue interrupted, "I don't want to look like a pretentious jerk who says things not in the place." Red Mask just nodded. Should Deka Blue say his usual phrase, he'd sound like he's an overconfident fool, it was a good thing he drew the line.

"Oh, by the way, Mei… about the contest…" Mega Yellow then turned towards Ptera Ranger.

"No, I decided not to enter, even after my voice returns." Ptera Ranger shook her head slowly, "I'd rather that you enter Chisato, so you finally gets your chance to enter a contest that you so wanted since the past!"

"Eh? Really?" Mega Yellow said in disbelief at first, before her tune became happier and she hugged Ptera Ranger as the boys just watched, "Thanks a lot, Mei!"

* * *

Once that was done, the team returned to Bonds. The contest would not be held after several days so Chisato still have time for some rehearsals. Mei decided to help Chisato rehearse and they ended up wanting the boys to watch their rehearsal. They now sat in front of the girls, who stood up with microphones ready.

"You guys, I want to thank you for what you did to me. I finally got my voice to normal." Mei gave an opening statement, "So, um… for you guys, and for Chisato later, I'll sing to all my heart's content!"

"Haha, that's the spirit, Mei!" Takeru clapped as he cheered, "Oh well, just get on with it already!"

"Of course. You ready, Mei?" Chisato then asked, looking at her.

"Hey, that's my line, Chisato." Mei reprimanded, "You're the one who'll sing later! The good luck should be given to you…"

"Oh well, who knows if we find another ticket later?" Chisato then said, "Then we can enter together! Okay here we go!"

Thus both ladies started singing as the boys intently heard the song. They sang very well and got the boys' full attention. "This is out of my prediction, but…" Hoji commented, "Mei has a beautiful voice when singing."

"Yeah, that's true." Jiraiya added, "It will be hard to decide the winner if they ever meet in that contest as rivals."

"Regardless…" Takeru said, smiling to his allies as well, "They're both dedicated warriors of justice, their voices as powerful as their strength. Agreed?" Both boys nodded and when the song ended, they gave a big applause to the girls as both Mei and Chisato smiled at each other, their friendship bonds deepened with it.

'Thank you, Chisato… thank you for your encouragement back then… We'll stick together this way, all right?'

A strong, powerful voice dedicated to justice is also a potent force against evil. Change the voice of despair made by evil and direct them to a strong one for justice! Never give up, Super Sentai! Fight! Super Sentai!

* * *

"Those Super Sentai…!" Abrellar growled once he heard Finix's fall, "I suppose that Youkai was a weak one…"

"Is that it or your client was just a pathetic one?" Gasha Dokuro retorted.

"Well, regardless, I gave my words." Abrellar then looked behind him and saw someone… Lamie. "What do you want now? Shouldn't you be… training?"

"No, actually…" Lamie smiled deviously as she approached the two, "I'll have you know that next time… it's my turn."

"Hoo, so you finally got a handle on how to create monsters yourself!" Gasha Dokuro said, "Let's hope it's no weakling."

"Nope. This one's… very terrifying." Lamie answered calmly as her eyes sharpened, as if beckoning of a wicked, evil storm that would strike at the heart of the innocents.

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: Okay that was it. God damn it, Naruhisa Arakawa is a genius writer, I just feel that my writing doesn't do him justice. Oh well, one more expected focus episode and things may get unpredictable... And in the meantime, go ahead and send in the reviews!


	10. Black of the Nightmare

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's Note: **Ooh, very sorry for this real late reply. I dunno, the writer's block is pretty high and job was pretty demanding. But for the moment, I will be taking care of this fic. So... enjoy this chapter?**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10: Black of the Nightmare  
**

* * *

In the villains' headquarters, the villains were in the meeting hall, being promised by Lamie that she would show her work, the very first Dora Monster she'd create. "Heh… can't wait with what she'll come up with." Kiros commented, tapping on the table with one of his finger while his other hand is put on his chin.

"This had better be a strong one!" Gasha Dokuro slammed his fist on the table instead.

"Calm yourself. It is basic that people learn." Abrellar tried to make the situation calm, "Whatever mistakes she commits, we'll make it up… for now. But should she instead not learn from failures… I will…"

"Will what?" Suddenly, the door opened and Lamie entered. Behind her was a slender woman with wings.

"So you're back, Lamie. This is the monster you spoke about?" Shibolena asked, looking at the monster, which seemed to be based on a naked woman with bat wings, and some black lines acting like cloth. Although her face was humanlike, there was some scars that made her look a bit monstrous, but still looked attractive to humans.

"Yep! This is Dora Succubus!" Lamie introduced, but in a sudden, the monster suddenly got near Kiros. "Hey, come back here!"

"Well, hello… handsome." The Dora Succubus suddenly started flirting, "Got some free time for the night?"

"Hello too, beautiful. What's for the night?" Kiros was too happy to comply.

"Well let's just say it'll be a passionate, intensive night…" Dora Succubus continued flirting… until Lamie herself pulled her ears away, "Owie! That was mean, Miss Lamie!"

"Idiot, do you want to instead suck Kiros' life force up? ! He's our ally!" Lamie scolded, wondering if something went wrong in Dora Succubus' creation. 'Or that part ends up too successful…'

"All right… can we continue?" Shibolena asked, "So what does she do?"

"As the legends say, a succubus would enter a man's dream and suck the life force out of them. Dora Succubus is just like that… except she'd not target just men… women are also fair play on her…" Lamie explained, but while doing that, it seemed that the Dora Succubus was on the verge of hugging her. As a result, she backhanded her in annoyance, "Your target is supposed to be those humans, not any of us!"

"Hey, that sounds really powerful. The humans won't see it coming!" Gasha Dokuro said, "Just make sure that her first targets are those Super Sentai!"

"Of course." Lamie said nodded. However, Abrellar was the first to raise an objection.

"Then how do you suppose she enters the minds of men? Do you suppose she goes invisible for it?"

"Ah… that." Lamie's expression froze. This was the cause of one of her inexperiences, "I haven't thought of that."

"Ah, man! And I thought it was gonna be an invincible one!" Kiros lamented, although he was quick to make a sly face, "It's still hot, though."

"Well, in that case we can remedy it with something like a medium." Shibolena offered as she stood up, "Come with me, Lamie. We'll have to modify your monster a little with Nejirejia technology."

"Very well then." Lamie said as she walked away along with Shibolena. Abrellar only looked at the two walking away, there was some expectation within him.

"Then do your job well, ladies."

* * *

In Bonds, the Super Sentai was doing their normal daily activity. Takeru and Mei this time trained together. Hoji was scanning through the database of Alienizers, while Chisato still had some activity with her college and recently just came back. "Yo!" She greeted.

"Welcome back, Chisato." Takeru, who was just on a break on the training with Mei, greeted her, "How's college?"

"Doing fine, thanks!" Chisato answered, "Though, well I could use some research about criminals. It's the topic of the lecture today."

"Well, that can't be helped." Suddenly Hoji said as he got up from his seat, "Go ahead, use the database for the moment."

"Wow! Thanks, Hoji!" Chisato replied as she stepped to the chair, but suddenly stopped a bit as she saw Hoji just standing there, "Uh, what? You're gonna supervise me? No I don't use the nets for stuffs like…"

"I'm not thinking like that." Hoji shot back, still looking stern, "I'm just saying… er… I'll guide you through the database. Answer questions you don't get about it… things like that."

"That's so kind of you." Chisato nodded as she finally sat down and teasingly said, "Well shall we, Hoji-sensei?"

"Don't call me 'sensei'." Hoji reminded as eventually he helped Chisato in navigating through the database, while both Takeru and Mei just watched.

"I suppose this is an improvement." Takeru noted, "Hoji before would be much colder. It surprises me that people developed that quick."

"He just don't want to show weakness so easily, but he is a kind person." Mei commented, reminded with the several times she interacted with Hoji and sometimes becoming the receiving end of his sudden generosity, "I've known…"

"Really, Mei. He was rough to you, remember?" Takeru noted, remembering the earlier moments when Hoji was heavily disbelieving on Mei.

"Misunderstandings happen, Takeru. But you also straightened him up, so you got my thanks as well." Mei commented, smiling. But it was quick to fade and her face returned to a normal expression as she looked around, "Have you seen Jiraiya today?"

"Yeah, come to think of it I haven't seen him…" Takeru commented, and wondered about the ninja's whereabouts, "Wanna go check?" Mei just nodded and they left both Hoji and Chisato to work on together while they went to look for Jiraiya, and stumbled upon the recreation room…

And from the outside, it was like the light wasn't even lit. It was already night. 'Did he have some sort of early sleep?' Takeru wondered as he got nearer to the door… and suddenly…

"**BOOOOMMM!**"

"Whoa!" Both Takeru and Mei was taken aback with such loud that they accidentally pushed the door open, and revealed that Jiraiya was watching an action movie.

"_Oh yeah! Awesome!_" Jiraiya cheered at how the action hero made a huge explosion on the enemy base, ending the movie. At that point, he realized that both Takeru and Mei just accidentally opened the door, "_Hey what's wrong?_"

"That was some loud stuff…" Takeru said, getting up and scratching his ears, "What are you doing, Jiraiya?"

"Watching movies." Jiraiya stated shortly as Mei was looking through the movies that he owned, in form of DVD.

"Wow…" Mei looked in awe, "It came in different types! Last time I knew, they used something of a black square tape or something..."

"Oh, must be the VHS. Well technology marched on, Chisato kinda explained to me." Jiraiya answered, remembering about how Chisato told him about DVD players. And luckily, the Bonds' recreation room did have a DVD player for watching movies.

"Yeah, this looks more advanced than what I used to see back then..." Takeru defended, as he was mostly used in watching movies through the theater. Just then he noticed, "Where did you get this much?"

"Ah, there was a generous customer when I ran my crepe stand." Jiraiya said, remembering what he did in the morning. There was a female customer who bought a lot of his crepe and not only paid him handsomely, also gave a bunch of movie DVDs to him, "She gave these to me and so far these were good!"

"Wow… maybe if there's a romantic one, I'd like to watch!" Mei hoped. In the last battle with Bandora, she did want to watch something romantic, maybe along with the other Zyurangers. However, at that time duty called and she had to prioritize her duty as the Princess of the Risha tribe over her need like a normal girl of her age, so she was mostly concentrating in fighting.

"Oh, I know something even more exciting than that." Jiraiya suddenly grinned, piquing Takeru's interest, "In fact… why don't you invite Hoji and Chisato to enjoy this together? The five of us, movie night!"

"Yeah, sure." Takeru nodded, before asking, "So… what movie will it be?"

* * *

It turned out to be a horror movie. The movie revolved about a cursed video tape, which have seen light and popularity since 1998, but this was a new version. All five watched the movie intently… until the movie truly ends. As Jiraiya turned on the light once more, and the watching took place at night… it turned out that the only one remaining sitting down straight in place were just Hoji and Jiraiya.

"That's it, really?" Hoji said in a deadpan tone, "It was a decent rip off. But not enough to scare me. Watched the original many times, I'm used to skipping sleep back in the days." It reminded him of the days before he became an SPD member, him and his friends watching the original horror story, pissing on their pants and skipping sleep. Further rewatching and he became more familiar with it to be unaffected. Unfortunately, however… the same couldn't be said to the girls. "Get off my hand, Mei. Movie's over."

"B-but i-i-it was s-s-so scary…!" Mei stated, shivering as she spoke, "I don't know if I can sleep tonight!"

"Sleep in one bed with Chisato, hugging each other. Problem solved." Hoji stated once more, "Seriously, Mei. It's just fiction!"

"I…" Chisato, who was at the time holding on Jiraiya's hand, "I've heard of that upcoming stuff, movie like this… called Ring or something. I just haven't watched that and only heard it was super scary… Now you probably just confirmed it…!" She then said in a sarcastic tone while still being scared, "Thanks a lot, guys…"

"Yeah, heard it came out in 1998." Hoji stated, as he looked at Jiraiya who still kept a cool face. "Not scared either, Jiraiya?"

"… Oh! Of course not!" Jiraiya suddenly said, surprised that he's being called. "Of course I'm not scared at all. I mean, that was obviously based on a Youkai that the Kakurangers usually fought! What's it called… Yes, the Onryou."

"On… ryou?" Chisato then asked, perhaps Jiraiya knew more.

"It's a spirit of vengeance, simple as that." Jiraiya gave a short answer, "Well, Daimaou never unleashed that kind of monster, but I'm sure there's one Youkai like that from his Corps."

"Uh-huh…" Hoji noted until he looked around, "Where did Takeru go?"

It was just then they realized that Takeru was gone from their sight. This scared Mei more and tightened her hug on Hoji, "Oh no! Perhaps he… he…!"

"Damn it, Mei!" Hoji said, "I told you, it's fiction! Won't happen in reality! Now get your hug off me!"

"_Wait_." Jiraiya then put his hand near his ears. He felt like he heard some sort of sound of gnashing teeth. Suddenly, he jumped out behind the couch they're sitting at… and said, "Oh, so there you are!"

"Huh?" Chisato then got up and followed Jiraiya at looking behind the couch… and found Takeru curling himself up and holding his head, completely scared, "My God! Takeru, so you're scared? !"

"It's just fiction, it's just fiction, it's just fiction, it's just fiction, it's just fiction, it's just fiction, it's just fiction…!" Takeru continued to say such thing as if trying to ensure himself that everything's going to be all right.

"Don't worry about it too much, Takeru. The movie's over…" Chisato tried to ensure him, even though she's also scared.

"Well I guess that was natural, for someone who came from the eighties to be scared." Hoji commented as he also got up, "But that's why it's called 'horror story'. It doesn't sell if it doesn't scare people."

"I have fought lots of Doggler Monsters bravely, even ghost-based…" Takeru commented as he got up and faced Jiraiya, "And none came close to this! Jiraiya, you picked a good one!" He tried to smile as big as he can, trying to congratulate Jiraiya for his keen eye in movie-picking.

"Eh heh…" Jiraiya laughed a little as he smiled, but then he walked away while stating something that would strike fear to even Takeru… "Then good luck sleeping."

At those words, Takeru froze, unable to give a retort. It looked like he'll have to spend the night either sleepless or haunted…

* * *

In the next morning, at the Bonds dining room…

Takeru entered, rather hazy with his sleep, while Hoji was already there, reading newspaper, as he didn't only depend on the database for daily information. "Slept well, Takeru?"

"O… of course I did!" Takeru protested, "I-I'm not…"

"Well at least you're awake. Breakfast will be ready soon." Hoji replied, looking at the toaster nearby that would get the breads toasted and ready.

"Say, where are the rest?" Takeru wondered as there are only two of them.

"Must've been asleep…" Hoji gave a short answer.

"We better wait so we can have breakfast together." Takeru said, noticing that there are five plates for them to eat.

However, after minutes of waiting, the three never came. Even Hoji grew weary, "What now, they're too scared to get up?"

"Jiraiya was pretty brave back then, that can't be his reason." Takeru said as he got up, "I'll take a look."

It didn't take long for Takeru to just take several steps, and he's hearing some ladies talking. "Wake… please…!"

'Huh? What are they talking about?' Takeru said as he headed to the ladies room… and found out that the door's open, and Mei and Chisato weren't even seen. "Wha? !"

"Come on, Jiraiya! Wake up! It's morning already!" Chisato's voice could be heard and Takeru headed off to the source… Jiraiya's room. Mei and Chisato were there, and they were trying to wake him up.

"Takeru! Something weird's going on to Jiraiya!" Mei approached him, "He… he just refuses to get up!"

"Really? Maybe he's tired…" Takeru tried to pass it off, until he realized that both girls have been doing physical contacts with Jiraiya. It'd be absurd if he didn't wake up through that, "Wait, this seems off… why isn't he waking up when he's touched?"

"That I don't know!" Mei answered, "I've got a bad feeling about this. It's like this is not a natural sleep…"

"But we certainly haven't fought any monsters yesterday…" Chisato muttered, "Maybe Hoji knows something. Perhaps there's some Alienizer who's drugging something!"

"Right, that should be a good idea." Takeru said as he moved away, "Come on, let's go." Nodding, the two girls followed Takeru, hoping that Hoji might find some answer.

But to their shock, they found out that Hoji has fallen asleep as well, on the dining table no less. "My God…!" Takeru uttered in shock, looking at what transpired.

"Hoji, not you too! Wake up!" Chisato tried to wake Hoji up to no avail. It started to make her wonder, "Did someone poison his food?"

"Can't be true." Takeru shook his head, looking at the toasted bread in front of Hoji. It was still untouched. "He hasn't even taken a bite. Mei may be right… there may be something unnatural behind this. I'll have to investigate."

"I'm coming with you, Takeru." Mei said, holding Hoji's forehead and feeling something strange within, "I don't know, but somehow I felt some sort of familiar force behind this…"

"Very well. Here, you eat this." Takeru said as he offered Hoji's bread to Mei.

"Eh? ! At times like this? !" Mei was shocked seeing Takeru being so carefree even in this time of crisis. However, she finally understood as he explained why.

"You can't conduct proper investigation if your stomach is empty! You haven't eaten breakfast today, have you? We can eat while we walk, no need to run."

"Wait, what about me?" Chisato then asked, feeling that she'd be left behind. Takeru then looked at both Hoji, and Jiraiya's room and then he looked at her.

"Chisato… you stay." Takeru ordered, "Someone needs to guard this base while we're away. With two of us fallen to something weird like this…"

"Okay, you don't need to say anymore." Chisato nodded as she understood her task, "I'll guard this base. Come back safely."

"No worries." Takeru said as he grabbed the toast that was supposed to be his. "Let's go, Mei!" As she nodded, both of them headed towards the teleporter and headed to the surface, beginning their investigation.

* * *

In the same time, Jiraiya woke up in a slightly weird dimension. It was quite empty. "_Huh…? Where am I?_" He muttered. Looking around, nobody was there. In a sudden, however, there was a loud sound of thunder. He usually wasn't scared, but the sound was so loud, he had to cover his ears. 'Ugh, so loud…!' As he covered his ears, he suddenly realized something. 'Wait… last I remembered, I was asleep for the night. If this is a dream, I should've awakened! Something's wrong here…"

Just as he looked around, he saw a shade of a woman in kimono. Her pale face caught the attention of Jiraiya. "Who're you?" He looked at her. She didn't look like any of the youkai, but she still emitted an air of mystery. She just moved away, away from Jiraiya's sight. "Wait!" He followed her. The woman may be suspicious, but this was the only way for him to get any information of what was going on around him.

He ran and ran, chasing for the woman throughout the foggy dimension. As he ran, he suddenly heard a loud sound of door closing. "Wha…? !" Jiraiya looked behind and he saw that there was a closed door and upon inspection, it's like he's drawn into some sort of house. The surrounding was even darker than normal. "Nah… can't be some sort of haunted house… right?" He smiled sheepishly as he walked forward.

He opened one door and saw the woman, looking behind him. "Ah, there you are." Jiraiya greeted, "I was wondering… where am I?"

There was no response. But as the woman turned, she no longer had the woman's face. Instead, it was of a skull devoid of flesh. Jiraiya was in complete shock as the skeletal lady grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, shrieking and laughing hysterically as her arms was put on him and tried to rip him apart. "I… I'm not dying here!" Jiraiya yelled as he struggled and wrestled with the skeletal lady and eventually kicked her away, letting her get up.

Unfortunately for Jiraiya, the woman is a persistent one. No matter how many times Jiraiya felled her, she always got back up. "Well, in that case, there's this one trick I can do…" Jiraiya said as he grabbed something from his ninja garb. A bomb. He immediately threw it to the skeletal lady.

BOOM!

The skeletal lady exploded, only her bones remain. "Ha, serves you right…" Jiraiya taunted a bit… until his taunt turned into terror once more as suddenly her bones gathered once more, forming her again, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he fought further. Just then he remembered something.

'There are a lot of these in those movies!' He thought, remembering that in the movie, there were skeletal ghosts like this, of course, not including the infamous string-haired ghosts, 'If that was in the movie, I could laugh at it, but these…!'

As such, fear started to creep on Jiraiya as his movement started to falter. He started to become unable to completely dodge some attacks, causing him to be cut here and there with the skeleton's claws.

And just then, someone tapped his shoulders from behind. "Yes?" Jiraiya turned behind and suddenly… the string-haired ghost lady from the previous movie was in front of him. From whatever's visible from her mouth, it seemed that she was grinning madly. Fear completely took over Jiraiya as he exclaimed as loud as he can…

"_OH MY GOOOODDD!_"

* * *

"So, any ideas?" Takeru asked as he walked together with Mei through the streets. It seemed peaceful, but they knew something was amiss.

"Jiraiya used to run a crepe stand, right?" Mei noticed, "Maybe we should go into where he usually hung out, selling crepes."

"Sounds good…" Takeru said, but his movement was halted when he looked at one of the televisions in a nearby store. It was supposed to air the local channel of Japan and at the time, it should be news time by NHK. However… the table where the newscaster usually sat and read the news were empty. "What? What's happening in NHK? This is supposed to be the time for morning news."

Out of curiosity, Takeru instead entered the store. "Ah, wait, Takeru!" Mei entered together with him, but to her shock… the store was completely empty. Not even the owners were there, "No way… yesterday even at the morning, this store should be ready… What…"

"Excuse me…" A male child's voice called out, "Brother and sister… are you buying something?"

"Ah! No, not really, I'm sorry." Takeru answered as he approached the young boy, "You must be a hard working boy. Keep it up."

"Oh, not really… My father usually ran this store." The boy explained, as he suddenly hung his head low, "But for some reason, today he just refused to wake up… and so did Mom…"

"Refused to wake up…!" Mei was shocked hearing it, it was the same symptom that befell on both Hoji and Jiraiya, "Was it just… today?"

"Yes… But it's weird… This store is usually crowded. Why is it that it's empty now?" The boy said in a sad tone, "Maybe I'm not."

"No, no, you're doing a good job." Mei tried to cheer him up, "There's something wrong going on around here, but don't' worry. Sis will take care of it."

"Thank you, sis!" The boy greeted, smiling.

"Not to worry, 'Bro' will also take care of it." Takeru also butted in, reassuring the boy further, "Be a good boy, OK? Your parents will be proud!" With that, the two left the store, with new information in their minds.

"So I guess that means those two aren't the only victims." Takeru noted, "It's a widespread disease or something. But what can cause it?"

"Eh?" Mei then spotted something. A woman selling a bunch of movies. On the stand she's selling, there was a plank writing, 'Original movies for sale!'. "Takeru? That woman… she looks a bit suspicious…"

"Huh? Yeah, she's selling something original… on street?" Takeru muttered, "Why didn't she try to sell in a more respectable place? Anyway, this is worth asking." Both of them then approached the woman. "Hello, young lady."

"Ah! Customers!" The woman said, "Finally a customer! I haven't had one since morning…"

"You were open very early? You're a hard working woman." Takeru commented. While doing that, Mei then looked at the movies she's selling, in form of DVDs. However, when she looked at one of the DVDs, she felt something very ominous. 'What is… this familiar feeling… Ooh, now I get it…!'

Mei suddenly took one of the DVDs… and then snapped it in two. "My God! What are you…!" The woman shrieked in terror.

"Mei! What in the world…!" Takeru tried to reprimand her, but suddenly, even his Aura felt an evil energy emanating from the broken DVD. "What is this…!"

"The moment I touched the DVD was the moment I knew something was wrong… Miss." Mei said boldly, staring at the woman, "I should've recognized that face quicker. Why don't you just show your true self… Lamie!"

"Heh…!" The woman suddenly grinned and as she spun, she revealed her true self… as Mei predicted, her nemesis Lamie. "I see your instinct is still as sharp as ever, Princess of Risha Tribe…"

"You…!" Takeru also recognized the woman, recalling that she did appear alongside Kiros and the rest in the past, "So… Jiraiya must've been tricked by you! What have you done? !"

"Oh, I just gave him my movie," Lamie nonchalantly answered, "As of the effect, you'll see soon enough. Golems!" Snapping her finger, she summoned a lot of Golems. "This'll be your grave."

"Tch…!" Takeru was about to transform, but the Golems were quicker to strike at them, causing him and Mei to defend themselves without transforming. "They really don't let up…!"

And it didn't take long for Lamie to leap in and kicked Takeru on the face, knocking him down. She raised her sword upwards and pushed it down with extreme speed, attempting to slash, Takeru, until her hand was shot with an arrow, causing her to stagger, enabling Takeru to back flip and took a good range. "You always get in my way, do you, Mei?" Lamie said in annoyance, looking at the one who shot the arrow… Mei.

"What you're doing is inexcusable." Mei retorted, "Now you will tell me how to wake those people up!"

"Hah! Wake up? After they were inflicted with the curse of Dora Succubus? ! Dream on!" Lamie said with confidence, "If she likes them, she would play with them as she sucked on their life force, if not, they'll be left to die by her minions in the world of dream."

"Dora Succubus…? ! Dream…!" Takeru gritted his teeth hearing such tale, "You monster, I guess I should expect no less from the likes of you."

"And the medium you used to suck them into the dream world you spoke of… were these DVDs?" Mei added, "Lamie, how could you!"

"How could I indeed." Lamie said as she stared at her rival, "It's all for my reunion. My reunion would come soon if I destroy you Super Sentai…"

"Reunion? What are you talking about?" Takeru asked, not really getting what she meant.

"Simple. When I kill you, I would reunite with Bandora-sama, my dear Grifforzer and my child!" Lamie said as she sounded really heartfelt and desperate, "How dare you get in the way between a mother and her child! You're all nothing but hypocrites!"

"You have a child? !" Takeru was shocked hearing it, and surprisingly, so did Mei. After all, Lamie gave birth in the prison she was sent by the Zyurangers, so she had no idea.

"Lamie… I'll be honest." Mei suddenly lowered her bow, once again her voice softened, "I feel sorry for you. You were probably forcefully separated from your family by either Abrellar or Rufecil's power. You have my sympathy. If I can, I would like to help you…"

"Well, I'm glad you understand, Mei." Lamie said as she approached her, and suddenly prepared for a quick strike, "Well we can start with your death!"

"Mei!" Takeru yelled as Lamie was about to land a hit… but only to find out that Mei already blocked it with her bow.

"But if this is your method of reuniting with them…! By ruining many people's lives in your path…! Destroying them in dreams where they were supposed to think of happy things…!" Mei said, this time, her voice becoming angrier, "Then rather than helping you, I would instead stop you!"

"Grr…!" Lamie gritted her teeth hearing such refusal. She pushed further, but Mei instead moved her bow aside, causing her to stumble forward. Using this chance, she swung her bow in a circular path, swatting Lamie aside, as she quickly got into her Dino Buckler and in instant…

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

She transformed into Ptera Ranger, and immediately prepared to shoot at Lamie with her Ptera Arrow. The arrow was shot, and Lamie could only block it with her sword, but the pain was still inflicted to her arm that held the sword. "You…!" Lamie was about to strike again, until…

"**AURA MASK!**"

Takeru has quickly transformed into Red Mask and shot Lamie down with the Laser Magnum. "I agree with Mei… you do look sympathetic. But your method is really questionable, that's why we will stop you."

"Stop me, then!" Lamie said as she got up, "I'm far from done!"

Thus began another bout of fighting between the two Sentai warriors and Lamie. Despite her seemingly noble intentions, both Red Mask and Ptera Ranger wouldn't let her go further, as it would spell doom to the humanity.

* * *

"Heh heh…" Watching the fight from afar, Shibolena couldn't help but chuckle. "They don't even realize that they're too late."

"Too late?" Gasha Dokuro said, curiously, "They're still putting up a fight!"

"Of course you won't realize, since for the night you were soundly sleeping." Shibolena said once more as a smirk formed within her lips. "They're already cursed… The moment they watched that video Lamie brought to them!"

* * *

After several bouts of fighting, however, both Red Mask and Ptera Ranger felt that their movements became slower as they were struck with fatigue. "My body…!" Ptera Ranger, in particular, was slowed down in a most crucial moment that Lamie was able to hit her and knocked her down.

"Hahaha. The time has come for me to bid you farewell, and leave you all to your deaths." Lamie said as she stepped back, "Dora Succubus, the rest is yours."

"Dora Succubus…? ! Where is that? !" Red Mask asked although his body was also faltering.

"Oh you'll be meeting her soon enough…" Lamie said… "You signed the contract last night after all! Hahaha!" With that, in a gust of wind, she vanished. In the meantime, Red Mask and Ptera Ranger's bodies continued to falter as they end up de-transformed.

"Last night…! No… it couldn't be…!" Takeru suddenly came to the realization of what just happened and what the 'contract' meant, "That movie Jiraiya brought! We all watched it together, which means, we've all been cursed…!"

"Oh no…!" Mei was frightened hearing it, "We better get back quick! Maybe Chisato can help…"

Both Takeru and Mei helped each other to stand as they struggled to head back to Bonds. Seconds by seconds, their bodies continued to falter further, as if getting them to fall asleep already.

* * *

"Chisato!" Upon arriving at Bonds, Takeru called out, but there was no response.

"Chisato!" Mei also continued to call as they headed to the dining room. On there, however, they were shocked to saw that just like Hoji and Jiraiya, Chisato has also fallen asleep. "Oh no…! We're… too… late…!" As Mei uttered such words, she finally also succumbed and fell asleep, with Takeru catching her body.

"Mei…? ! Hey, wake up!" Takeru tried to wake her up, but it did nothing. Eventually, he didn't even have enough power to lift her up as he put her to the ground as he struggled to stand on his own feet.

'Don't fail me here, my Aura power…!' Takeru thought, concentrating and hoping his Aura power would keep him awake. But alas, the force was too strong and eventually he couldn't stay awake and fell asleep too.

'Damn… is this it…?'

* * *

"Hiiii!" Jiraiya was shivering. Nobody was seeing him except these ghosts. He was too overcame with fear. When everyone was watching, he was good enough to hide all his fears, but in truth, he probably would run away from the room instead of hiding behind the couch like Takeru. As a result, the ghosts were free to lay beatdown to him, to the point that he's bleeding in many places. "No… not here…! I… I'm not afraid of you, go away…!"

Until eventually a shadow suddenly swept in and took Jiraiya away. It entered a room together with him as Jiraiya eventually was able to look at his savior. A woman with red hair and very revealing clothes. "Um… _thanks_." Jiraiya said, in gratitude.

"_Oh no problem_." The woman also spoke in perfect English. In fact, she used a Scottish accent, to make her sound more seductive, "Can't let you handsome guy die after all."

"Um… your name?" Jiraiya asked, "And… please, put on more clothes… It's… very distracting…"

"Oh, don't worry…" The woman said, "This is my usual attire. But nevermind that, let's have some fun…"

"Fun?" Jiraiya asked, curious with what she meant 'fun', "But what about those…" As much as Jiraiya was scared, he was also worried, if they would prey on another. He feared that he couldn't protect them.

"Oh no worries. They probably would find another playmate… like you." The woman continued, "But don't worry… you're my playmate now."

"W… what…?" Jiraiya said as the woman suddenly touched his clothes and attempted to undress him, but Jiraiya grabbed it quick enough, "Please, not like that. I'm… chaste."

"Oh, don't be such a bore. I like you very much…" The woman continued to invite Jiraiya further. At that point, suddenly there were a lot of screams heard from the room's window.

"OK, hold up. Let me check what's happening outside…" Jiraiya said as he headed to the window. To his horror, he saw the very ghosts that attacked him, now bringing friends and attacking his friends. "_Oh my God…_ Takeru…! Hoji…! Mei…! Chisato…!"

"OK, are you done?" The woman suddenly said, looking at the window as well, "Oh, they'll do just fine. Look, they're resisting even more than you."

Deep down, Jiraiya felt ashamed. His friends were able to resist fears, but he didn't quite when alone. He spent a year battling Japanese equivalent of these, but faltered when similar things confronted him. But when he looked at the battle, he saw the other thing. Takeru and the rest were resisting, but they're still losing the battle. Something must be done. 'But I… no… this isn't time to falter. They're just the same as the Youkai Corps. I don't need to fear…! Now… wait a minute…!'

He looked at the woman. Even when he's a child and living in America, aside of training with Master Gali, he used to read some western folklore as well as the demons residing there. And he did find one thing that the woman is very similar with.

"_Nice try, Succubus!_" Jiraiya said as he performed a clean roundhouse kick straight on the face.

THWAK!

The woman fell to the ground with the mighty force of the kick, as well as being surprised that Jiraiya would do that. 'Wow, I can't believe I still remembered that kick from that movie from year 1972 about two legendary martial artist from across the globe duking it out!'

"Ugh… How… how can you do this to me…!" The woman whined as she rubbed her face, which started to look less human, "And Succubus? How…"

"Yeah, you really did good in bringing out my fear in dream world." Jiraiya said, hopping a little while he faced her, "But no more cowardly Jiraiya! Enter Jiraiya the Brave!"

"You little… and I liked you so much…" The woman said as she eventually revealed her true form, that of Dora Succubus, "Regardless, I WILL suck the life force out of you! Your friends are next!" She then ran forward, approaching Jiraiya. But he only dodged most of its attacks. "What's the matter…? In MY world, there's no way you can transform! You can't kill me… Wha…!"

"Heh, I don't need it." Jiraiya's overwhelming courage was very painful to bear as it staggered her. Dora Succubus' world did have one weakness, if someone overcame their fear, the power within would be lost and it would weaken the Dora Succubus' strength. "I'll destroy you myself here if necessary! HWAA-TAA!" Jiraiya leapt and launched a flying kick straight onto Dora Succubus' face.

At that moment, it felt like the world was crumbling as a flash of light enveloped the whole world.

* * *

When Dora Succubus fell, she instead fell in an open field. "Ah…? ! This… this is not my world anymore…!"

"Huh? Well, I guess it's good to be back…" Jiraiya noted as he looked around… and found not just Takeru and the rest, but also many people who were also cursed. "Everyone!"

"Ugh… wha…" Takeru said, scratching his head, "Huh? Last time I remembered fighting monsters in some weird dimension…"

"What a long nightmare…" Hoji said until he looked at Dora Succubus, "Wait, I've seen that creature flashing in my nightmare… So, that was the cause!"

"So this must be the Dora Succubus Lamie was talking about!" Mei said as she got up, "But first off… Jiraiya?"

"Before that 'first off', get the civilians out first!" Jiraiya reprimanded the others.

"Ah… right! Everyone, please get out and leave this to us!" Chisato said as she and the rest drove the civilians away, who were already scared with what Dora Succubus was like.

"Jiraiya, those movies you brought cursed us with her curse." Takeru explained, "If anyone saw that movie from the CD, it would force us enter the dream."

"Oh, so that's how. And she probably plans to kill us in that dream." Jiraiya noted, "_Unforgivable! Let's go, guys!_"

"OK!" The other four nodded as they prepared to transform.

"**AURA MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

And the five transformed and ready to do battle, facing the queen of dream world.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"Even though we are from the different time and team…" Red Mask began, in which Ninja Black followed, "We are still united as one!"

"We are…! **SUPER SENTAI**!"

"You… traitor!" Dora Succubus screamed as she snapped her fingers. Much to everyone's surprise, the creatures that appeared in the dream world, including the skeleton ghost and the long haired ghost appeared instead of Golems.

"Eek! It's them!" Mega Yellow, in surprise, shrieked, "What are they doing here, I thought they're dream world exclusive? !"

"Heh! This kind of illusionary trick is child's play." Ninja Black said as he threw several smoke bombs to the monsters. Once the fog cleared, there were none of those creatures, but mere Golems.

"Golems in disguise? !" Ptera Ranger said, "Well, that was surprising."

"You fail at being a Kunoichi… monster!" Ninja Black taunted.

"Well, I guess that's enough show-off." Deka Blue said, loading his D-Sniper, "Let's get down to beating them off!"

"Right, my fists are getting itchy anyway." Red Mask said as the five rushed to the Golems and fought them off together.

However, behind them, Dora Succubus was watching intently. 'Hah… they thought I'm only strong in my Dream World. I'll show you… why they call me a Succubus…'

She suddenly blew a kiss, which formed a heart shape. It was thrown to the fighting Super Sentai… and hit Red Mask from behind. "Now then, my chosen boy… fight for me, will you?"

In a sudden, Red Mask then punched Ninja Black on the face. "Takeru! What the…!" Deka Blue protested, but he instead was blocked.

"Takeru! Get a hold of yourself! That's a friend!" Mega Yellow yelled, but Red Mask continued the beating on both Deka Blue and Ninja Black.

"Ah hah hah!" Dora Succubus laughed, looking at how friends fight each other, "You see… he is now my slave!"

"I knew it, if I heard of the name 'Succubus'!" Ptera Ranger said, realizing what happened, "The Dora Succubus… it's one of Bandora's ancient monsters used to mesmerize men and women to her wills! But how did Lamie…"

"Men… and women? !" Mega Yellow was surprised hearing that, "That means… this monster is a bi? !"

"Indeed! And I need something to entertain me than just boys fighting… Catfight will do fine too!" Dora Succubus then attempted to blow another kiss, "Come to mama…"

"No you don't!" Ptera Ranger said as she shot an arrow to the Dora Succubus, but it was too late, even though the arrow hit her. The blow was shot to Ptera Ranger. However… it was rejected and reflected.

"Grr…! You Risha Tribe and your silly holy protection!" Dora Succubus said in annoyance, but then she grinned, "But still, I got my replacement."

"Eh?" As Ptera Ranger wondered, she was attacked by Mega Yellow, "My God! Chisato!"

"Dance, puppets! Dance!" Dora Succubus was just sitting down as she watched boys fighting boys and girls fighting each other, "With stuffs like these, who needs Golems?"

"Damn! What a tricky monster!" Deka Blue said as he blocked Red Mask's Masky Blade. At this moment, Ninja Black noticed something on Dora Succubus.

"_Hey! _I've got an idea. You need to distract her!" Ninja Black said.

"But how? ! Takeru is quite the distraction!" Deka Blue said as he blocked yet another strike.

"Just trust me!" Ninja Black said as he threw a smoke bomb and suddenly vanished.

"Hey, Jiraiya!" Deka Blue called out. However, regardless, he decided to trust Ninja Black in planning. But, he still had his doubts. All he did was defense. He could never raise his weapon against a fellow Sentai warrior. The same goes to Ptera Ranger.

However, after moments of fighting, suddenly both Red Mask and Mega Yellow stopped and struggled, clutching their heads.

"Takeru!"

"Chisato!"

"Hoji… the hell are you… doing? ! Don't just stand there, attack!" Red Mask struggled as he said.

"Attack you? ! Are you joking? !" Deka Blue yelled.

"Trust… Jiraiya…! Attack her…!" Red Mask continued to speak.

"Yeah… and leave you to whack me from behind." Deka Blue sarcastically answered, "No, that doesn't sound so good."

"You can… disable us…" Mega Yellow spoke, also struggling, "Hurry…!"

"Disable… I see!" Ptera Ranger said as she got a clue and pulled her bow, "Sorry, Chisato!" As she said that, she shot Mega Yellow on the leg.

"Mei, what are you…!" Deka Blue nearly protested, until he finally realized… perhaps this was the only way. He raised his sniper and also shot Red Mask on the leg.

"G… good…" Red Mask said slowly, "The rest… is yours…!"

"I'll make sure that doesn't go in vain. Whatever Jiraiya is planning, we better don't let it go waste." Deka Blue said as he closed in to Ptera Ranger, "Are you ready, Mei?"

"I'm ready as ever." As Ptera Ranger took aim with her bow, so did Deka Blue with his sniper. In the mean time, Dora Succubus got up and yelled.

"What kind of show is that! And it was getting interesting! Continue!"

"_Shut up_." Deka Blue said as he shot the sniper… towards Dora Succubus' wings.

"Ptera Arrow!" Ptera Ranger then shot her arrow to Dora Succubus, but not on the chest, but on her legs.

"AARGH! Damn you… are you underestimating me? !" Dora Succubus protested, feeling as if she's been shown some form of mercy.

"Actually, we're respecting the wish of our friend." Deka Blue said as suddenly the ground behind Dora Succubus erupted and she felt like flying… or to be precise, she was kicked from the ground so high by Ninja Black and he quickly grabbed her from behind, as she was unable to maneuver with her wounded wings.

"Ninpo: Izuna Otoshi!" As Ninja Black said, he dove down to the ground spinning around and heads first, trying to drop Dora Succubus' head to the ground. And on the ground where he was headed… was his Kakuremaru, pointed upwards, as if it was to be impaled to Dora Succubus' head.

"RRRAAAHHH!" Dora Succubus screamed as the blade was stuck onto her head. The immense pain was too much for her, but she has yet to explode, although she's stuck with her legs on the top and her head on the ground. However, as Ninja Black landed on his feet, he was ready for another attack.

"Ninpo: Rock Fall!" As Ninja Black recited, boulders fell to Dora Succubus, hitting her from above and impaling her further to the Kakuremaru. With that, the pain finally reached its peak and Dora Succubus exploded.

And as she exploded, the spell inflicting her victims were lifted as Red Mask and Mega Yellow regained their senses. "Uh… what…" Red Mask said as he eventually de-morphed back to Takeru, "Whew… guess it worked- OW!"

"Takeru!" As the others also de-morphed, Hoji approached Takeru while Mei approached Chisato, "You OK?"

"I'm fine, really…" Takeru said, smiling, "Broke my legs several times when I trained Karate, this is fine for me."

"Well that's to you! I never had any Karate training!" Chisato protested as she also held her leg and cringed in pain, "Oww… even if it's for the greater good, it still hurts like hell…"

"Don't worry, Chisato! I'll patch you up just fine!" Mei tried to reassure her, feeling responsible that she shot her legs, "I mean… it's not that bad, but patching it up may hurt a little…"

"Yeah. For now, case complete." Jiraiya approached them, already carrying his Kakuremaru. After all, the blade was made of enough powerful metal that it could withstand explosions. "I guess this is where I should say… _Super Cool. Perfect?_"

"H-hey!" Hoji protested as Jiraiya not only stole his catch phrase, but he uttered it in good English. But he didn't continue and instead put quite a smile, "Well at least you did good in this plan, so I guess I can let it slide."

"Yeah, no hard feelings." Jiraiya said. "Let's get back to Bonds, though. If you want to rest, I still got a bunch of movies that's refreshing for us to watch."

"Just not horror this time, okay?" Mei said. Jiraiya nodded as they help each other carrying the wounded and walk away.

"You didn't buy that from any suspicious people like that horror movie before, did you?" Takeru asked, remembering how they got into this mess in the first place.

"_Huh?_" Jiraiya asked, still a little confused in what he meant. Takeru then had to explain on how Dora Succubus managed to curse them into the Dream World, using DVDs as the medium for her to contract who got to enter her world. "_Oh! _That! Don't worry, this one I rented from a good store."

"Well at least that's good…" Hoji commented.

"Also, you guys…" Jiraiya suddenly had his voice become solemn, "I gotta confess something."

"Confess about what?" Chisato asked.

"You know…" Jiraiya knew he's like throwing himself into a pit of vipers but he had to be honest, "When we watched that horror movie… I was scared. Maybe even more scared than you, Takeru."

"Well, then you did a great job in covering it. Sometimes, it's a very important thing to hide your fear." Takeru said, knowing that it's a battle tactic to not let enemies know that he's under the effect of fear.

"I know, but sometimes…" Jiraiya said, "You gotta be honest and admit your feeling rather than denying it. I guess that's why I could overcome that Succubus."

"Well in the end, it's a good lesson to be learned, right?" Chisato tried to soften the situation up, and as they continued to walk to the city where the Bonds are located, they continued to talk about various subjects.

Perhaps fear sometimes are best left hidden, but so long as you accept even fear into your emotions, you would be even more powerful. Acknowledge, but never sink deep into your fear! Keep up fighting, Super Sentai!

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: Well that's Jiraiya's filler chapter. Don't complain on why I made up the Izuna Otoshi ninpo, even if the Kakurangers never show it, it's so common and famous between many ninja in video games I can't help but to include. Oh and if you're wondering how the Roundhouse Kick goes for Jiraiya, go youtube 'Way of the Dragon' and witness how Chuck Norris did it to Bruce Lee. I got the inspiration of the roundhouse from that.

Well aside of that, there'd be one more filler and probably ANOTHER ship tease next chapter. So stay tuned!


	11. Successful Mission

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

******Author's note: **As I said, this is gonna be a continuous update for the second team. You know, to let them catch up. I'm grateful for your reviews, but really, I appreciate reviews that goes more than just "I like it! Continue!" Well not that it matters, because I WANT to finish this fic myself, with or without reviews, but reviews are nice, especially if detailed and constructive. Anyway, enjoy the chapter now!

* * *

**CHAPTER 11: Successful Mission**

* * *

The enemy base still had one artifact from Bandora's Palace remaining… the telescope. While nobody has been using it, when Lamie came across it, she felt nostalgic. "Ah… the telescope." She muttered, "Bandora-sama used to watch with this. Maybe I should as well."

With that, she put her eyes to the telescope and started watching the Earth. But what she ended up watching was a wedding. A lot of children were cheering for the bride and bridegroom. This, of course, irritated Lamie. "Uuu…! Human weddings…! Disgusting! Especially with so many children cheering! My marriage with Grifforzer at least is much better! Peace and quiet! But this… this is so sickening! Ah… Darling, I miss you so much…"

"Well if it's so sickening, why don't you find a way to ruin it?" The voice of Abrellar caught Lamie's attention and made her jump out of surprise, and stopped her from watching further.

"Abrellar! Well… actually that was a perfect idea!" Lamie said, "I should make a monster for that! You know, this monster creation turn out to be more fun than I thought."

"Yes, just make sure you channel that rage and irritation in making that monster." Abrellar said to her, "In fact, I want to ask you for a favor when you finished creating that monster. You see, there's this sculptor I know…"

* * *

In the meantime, back in Bonds, Takeru was using what he had in knowledge of technology to dwelve through the database of Bonds. "Okay, this should be here…" He muttered, clicking through the computer.

"What are you doing?" Hoji, who was just passing by, asked, shocking Takeru as he looked behind.

"Whoa, Hoji! Didn't see you come in!" Takeru said, "There's something bugging me about that Hiroaki guy and that AkaRed he mentioned… I want to dig deeper."

"Bugging? Come to think of it, yeah, he was a little too mysterious." Hoji said as he opened another part of the database, "I'll help find out… Or perhaps you want me to teach you about digging through databases?"

"Well… I guess that'd be appreciated." Takeru said with a slightly sheepish smile. Admittedly, he couldn't be a master of this advanced technology in an overnight. "The technology here far surpassed what I had in my time."

"Don't say that, it surpassed mine too." Hoji replied, "Not to brag, but I suppose I who have been adept in computers can help you out."

"Much appreciated, thanks." As Takeru thanked him, Hoji started to give Takeru several tips about the current technology and how to utilize them in the actual database. The contents were mostly similar to the History of Super Sentai book, along with something even too ancient for them to describe.

After almost half an hour, Takeru, however, stumbled into a weird text. "Huh? What's this… 'Seven colors to defeat the enemy… Seven colors to lead the way…'…?"

"Some kind of hint or prophecy?" Hoji wondered, "In age like this they still used prophecy?"

'Wait, it could be true. Let's see… We had Red, Blue, Pink, Black and Yellow…' Takeru tried to count his allies while thinking, until he remembered several things. First, while reading the History of Super Sentai Book, he did find some Green and White colored warriors as well, aside of several other exotic colors. Besides, he was reminded of an old one-time ally, Asuka Ryou, otherwise known as X-1 Mask. If Takeru remembered, he was of the Green color. 'Perhaps it's telling me that, with this many warriors I might not succeed in my endeavor…?'

"Hm? There's a continuation." Hoji mentioned, reading further, "It's hard to read completely on the rest but… I think I can read 'irregular' on that…"

"Irregular? What does that mean…" Takeru wondered.

* * *

In the corners of the city, there was a small house. It was inhabited with a small alien, short on stature which looked like a standing mole, except without the nose. This one was a male. He's working… as some sort of sculptor. But for some reason, he hadn't been able to produce one thing.

"Pfft…! No good! I can't get a good imagination! But nobody wants to be my model…" The sculpting alien sighed, kicking the ground in annoyance, "At this rate, I'll never get out of poverty…"

"Model, you say?" A voice was heard as someone opened the door. It was none other than both Abrellar and Lamie.

"You…! You're that Agent Abrellar I've heard about! But… I heard the Dekarangers…" The sculptor was surprised looking at Abrellar, but he then realized who he was, "What do you want?"

"Sculptor Michael of the Planet Angelo." Abrellar stated, "It would take more than that to kill me. Regardless, I'd like to strike a deal with you. It won't cost big."

"What deal? !"

"I've heard that your family possessed an amulet called 'Sanaliom Amulet'." Abrellar stated, pointing at an amulet worn on Michael's neck, "I want it. In return, I will give you good imaginations."

"Drugs? ! No! I don't do drugs!" Michael protested as he backed away, "Back away! I'm not gonna…"

"Sorry, but there is no 'Refuse' option." Lamie was exparasted as she approached Michael and pointed her blade to his small neck, "We can go peacefully and take the amulet, or we can separate your head from your body. Which will it be?"

"Eep…!"

"Now, now, no need to be so rough, Lamie." Abrellar stopped Lamie as he put his hand on her shoulder, and he turned to Michael, "Now let's face it, Michael. The Angelo star and your family is known for their sculptures. Their statues and arts are items of legend that even the Black Market wouldn't even touch." Since Lamie hadn't put her sword away, Michael could only nod slowly, sweating heavily, "All I'm giving you are something that would make you get some good imagination. I've heard that humans tend to reject you. They make the best models for imagination, but you can't get a good image for them because you rarely saw them."

"H… how did you know?" Michael asked, in a shock that Abrellar seemed to read his mind accurately.

"Let's just say psychology is one of my specialties." Abrellar said before concluding, "So what do you say, Michael? I can help you gain your much needed fame to be on par with your fellow Angelonians. You won't be viewed as a failure anymore. All you need to do is to give me your Sanaliom Amulet."

"But this has been passed down through my family. I…" Michael was about to answer, and Lamie was about to push her sword further to threaten him more, but Abrellar was able to pull her away a little.

"You don't need that amulet." Abrellar said, "What have the amulet done to you by just hanging around on your neck? Nothing. But in my hand… it will become useful. So what says you?" He reached out his hand, as if trying to do a handshake. After much thinking, Michael nodded and handed the amulet to Abrellar's hand.

"I understand, I suppose I have to give this a shot." Michael answered, "Please help me."

"You will not regret this decision… Let us be off, Lamie." Abrellar said as he eventually walked away with Lamie outside the house.

Once they're out of the house and from Michael's sight, Lamie instead whistled and from the bushes came out another female Dora Monster, this time having snakes for hair. "There you are, Dora Medusa." Lamie called as the monster hissed. "We've got it. The stone that would give you the ability to sneak, as silent as the wind." She tossed the Sanaliom Amulet as it was eventually grafted onto the monster's neck. The monster triumphantly hissed as it eventually took a much more civil form… a normal woman.

"This is my new form…?" The Dora Medusa also gained normal voice this way, "This is great!"

"Now you can rampage as much as you want." Lamie said, "Especially those weddings…!"

"Yes, ma'am. As you say." Dora Medusa said as she walked away slowly.

"And don't forget to bring your statues to me…" Abrellar added as from his bat-ish mouth that wasn't seen, he was certainly forming a sick grin.

* * *

In the meantime, Chisato was on the way home from shopping. After all, she was the one to handle the foods for her teammates. And at least she still got her own spare money. While innocently humming on the way home, it was suddenly stopped when she heard screams. "Eh? ! What now, a Nejire Beast?" She muttered as she hurried to the scene where the scream was heard.

It was a wedding on a church. 'Screams? In a wedding?' Chisato wondered as she looked at the wedding in chaos. The bride was crying on her parents' shoulders. 'Where's the bridegroom… What? !' Chisato was looking for the bridegroom, but then was shocked. There was a statue of a man inside the church wearing a tuxedo. 'That was supposed to be the bridegroom? ! I have a bad feeling about this…'

Chisato looked around and saw a little girl crying alone approaching her without realizing she's there. "Hey… are you OK?"

"Big bro… big bro…!" The girl was crying, but Chisato just hugged her and tried to assure her by tapping her back lightly.

"It's OK, it's OK… you can tell big sis what happened here…"

"Big bro was just about to get married… then during the vow-declaration thing…" The girl told the story, "There was a flash… and then he… he…!"

"Flash?" Chisato noted, 'Oh, I know this must be the work of that Abrellar. No mistaking it…! But is this another of Shibolena's work, or…? Wha? !' When Chisato looked back to the church, she was shocked to see that the statue was gone…

* * *

Back in Michael's house, someone knocked the door of his house. When he opened it, he saw the human form of Dora Medusa carrying a human-sized box on a trolley. "A delivery from Agent Abrellar to Sir Michael!" She stated, in a happy tone that she wouldn't believe she could've pulled it off.

"Huh? A delivery? What's this…" Michael said as he opened the box… only to see the statue of the bridegroom. Of course, Michael had no idea where he got them, "Wow! This is inspirational! Just like the real thing… as far as I remember anyway."

"You know, the Agent was so pleased." Dora Medusa said, "He'll keep bringing you more inspiration!"

"I'll get to work now!" Michael said excitedly as he prepared his sculpting tools. Dora Medusa just exited…

* * *

"Mission successful, ma'am." Dora Medusa reported to Lamie, who was behind the house of Abrellar.

"Very great! I had fun listening to those people screaming in agony as well!" Lamie added in excitement, "I thought only kids gave out such joyful screams, but adults give out the same!"

"Just so you realize, Lamie…" Abrellar said, reminding her of something important, "This is only to blow off some steam of yours. I hope the Dora Medusa finds where the Super Sentai is… and turn them all to stone."

"Of course." Lamie said, "This is only the beginning after all. Dora Medusa has been proven that nothing can protect her gaze of stone, not even the holy power of the Risha tribe can withstand it. And while she liked turning men to stone better… she also can turn women to stone. You can consider this method my way to bait them all… Considering this, they may split up and turning them to stone may be an easier task."

* * *

Day after day, Dora Medusa started by intruding into marriages and turning bridegrooms into stone. It seemed that she naturally held a grudge to bridegrooms as if she had some bad memories about marriages. Shortly after, the number of petrified people began to rise and it would only be a matter of time until the Super Sentai caught wind of this.

Takeru had the team split for the moment and ask around about the surrounding event. Hoji and Chisato were in one team, while Mei and Jiraiya in another… while Takeru was on his own.

In particular, Hoji and Chisato were able to procure a photographer who was present in several weddings where the disaster occurred and they got several photo shots of the whole audience. However, they looked like normal photos to them.

"You really don't find anything weird in this photo?" Hoji asked Chisato, holding one of the photos, "Bad negatives or something?"

"No. This is a perfectly fine photo. And so are the rest." Chisato answered, "My years on the photography club don't go to waste, you know. Trust me."

"Of course. All we can do is now to scan this from the computer in Bonds. Maybe we'll find out." Hoji said, setting the course. However, in the middle of the road, they met Takeru, "Found something?"

"Hey you got photos too, huh?" Takeru said, looking at the photos on Chisato's hand, "I got mine too. Basically it's what we can gather thus far. We can't wait for another incident to happen. Can I look?"

"Sure. Here." Chisato then handed down the photos she had into Takeru. He checked both photos thoroughly. To his surprise, they were all normal photos.

"These… look normal. So we can rule out that the photographers were at fault…" Takeru said. He's got his suspicion, but he'd rather not take it out of focus. He looked at the photo again, "Wait a minute. Your photographers did say they take these photos from those various incidents, right?"

"Yes, he did. What of it?" Hoji said as he looked at his own set of portraits.

"Don't you think our photos share something similar…?" Takeru said as the three intensely compared Takeru's portraits and Hoji and Chisato's. Eventually they knew there was a connection…

* * *

In the meantime, Mei and Jiraiya were asking other kind of people. In particularly, the victims' brides. While eventually walking around, they discussed what they could gather.

"So far it's just men who were affected." Jiraiya said, "Weird. I thought they'd target women instead."

"Or children." Mei added, "But judging at how Lamie seemed to change her tactics, adults are fair game too it seems…"

"And they had to be in the middle of marriage too…" Jiraiya also said, as he eventually sighed, "_Damn. _Marriage is supposed to be a sacred ceremony, how can they do this?"

"AAAAHHHH!" There was a scream that they heard nearby. At that point, the two dropped whatever they're talking about and quickly rushed to where the scream was heard. There they saw Golems and Anaroids taking away a statue while a woman was chasing them. "Give him back…! Give my darling back!"

"Golems, Anaroids and the recent victim…!" Mei stated, looking at them, "I knew Lamie was involved…!" As several Golems suddenly turned to attack the chasing woman, Mei immediately rushed headfirst, leaping and kicking one Golem and proceeded to fight the rest, "Miss, are you okay? !"

"I… I'm fine… but please…! My dear!" The woman begged, as the ones carrying the statue were running away.

"Mei, _leave it to me_!" Jiraiya yelled as he gave chase to the Anaroids that carried the statue.

"Um… okay!" Mei was a bit confused, she wasn't that familiar with Jiraiya's perfect English, but she did understand what he meant as she continued to defend the poor lady.

However, suddenly from behind, someone attacked the woman. But it's not Golems… but Takeru, followed by Hoji and Chisato. "Stop right there!" Takeru yelled as he punched the woman on the face.

"Takeru, what are you doing? !" Mei yelled at him, "She's the victim!"

"A little closer and she would've turned you to stone." Hoji corrected, surprising Mei as he faced the woman, "We've seen that figure in various weddings where the incidents take place. Whatever you are, you better show your true face!"

"Hah! Damn, and I thought I would've gotten that Risha Tribe brat into stone!" The woman said angrily as she gathered the Golems nearby and suddenly she transformed into her true self. She lost the ability to speak, only reduced to hissing.

"Oh, dear. Snake hairs. If that's a Dora Monster, I bet the name's Dora…" Chisato was about to say something until Mei said the name.

"Dora Medusa… it can't be…!"

"Well, as I thought." Chisato nodded. As she said that, Dora Medusa's hair suddenly bit one Golem. The Golem was eventually turned into a rock, and with one hand, the monster lifted it, like a huge totem. However, she knew that's not what they should worry about. "We've got to do something to avoid the eye contact!"

"_No problem._" Hoji said as he prepared his SP License, "If we transform, at least we can avoid that. But we still have to watch out for the snake hairs."

"At least we'll be able to concentrate more on the hairs! Let's go, guys!" Takeru said as he also prepared to transform.

"**AURA MASK! RED MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

The four transformed and eventually began to fight the Golem army along with Dora Medusa. The mobile Golems were easily dispatched. But, Dora Medusa and her petrified Golem packed quite a punch as in one blow, she was able to knock three warriors at once, in particular Red Mask, Deka Blue and Ptera Ranger.

"That's some hard rock…" Red Mask commented, "But it's not indestructible, I'm sure!"

"Okay, I guess I should give this a shot! Come here, monster!" Mega Yellow said as she ran towards Dora Medusa, who just hissed and swung her statue. However, she's ready for interception… "Blade Arm!" Making her hand as sharp as a steel blade, Mega Yellow delivered a chop to the statue. It managed to stop the statue from moving further, but Mega Yellow continued to push, screaming to increase her tension and force. "AAAAHHH!"

As a result, the statue was cut down in two, rendering the Dora Medusa weaponless. She hissed again and attempted to send out her snake hairs to bite Mega Yellow. She was about to cut them down too, but from behind, her friends shot the Laser Magnum, D-Sniper and Ranger Guns to the monster, stopping the hair at track. Before they could act, however, the Dora Medusa ran off in a surprisingly fast speed.

As the danger subsided, the four de-morphed. "Tch, she sure runs fast." Takeru noted.

"But that was pretty cool, Chisato!" Mei, in a sudden, praised on how Chisato fared against the Dora Medusa, "You cut that statue in two!"

"Oh, really? Eh heh heh…" Chisato could only give a sheepish laugh at the praise "Well, just luck I guess?"

"Could be. You shouldn't let your guard down for just one impressive feat." Hoji reprimanded, as he looked around and knew someone was missing. "Hey… where's Jiraiya?"

"Jiraiya? He went to pursue those Anaroids that carried the statue." Mei said as she reached out the communicator she received back then since her Dino Buckler couldn't be used as an inter-team communicator. However, there was one problem… she hadn't gotten the time to familiarize herself in using the device. "Um… now what should I press if I want to contact Jiraiya?" She asked innocently.

"Mei! _Hey!_" Suddenly, the communicator spoke, surprising even Mei, "It's me, Jiraiya! Found them!"

"Eh? ! Um… um… yes, it's me?" Mei was a bit confused on to handle this communicator, but she decided to try and use it. She spoke like she's talking on a phone, "Can you hear me, Jiraiya?"

"Of course! I found their hideout!" Jiraiya said from the other side, "It's like they're carting off the statue to some place!"

"Carting off… a dealing for the Black Market? !" Hoji was suddenly fired up. What kind of criminal was behind this actions? Which Alienizer did Abrellar contact this time, "Where are you located, Jiraiya?"

"Head straight to the southeast from where you are! There's a small house which is isolated around the fields! I'll meet you there!" Jiraiya said as eventually the communication was cut.

"Southeast from here, huh." Takeru said as he looked there, "Let's go!" As the other three nodded, they ran towards the southeast, hoping that they caught up with Jiraiya.

* * *

As they reached the house, they met up with Jiraiya, who was hiding on a tree. He immediately dropped down on arrival. "Found anything funny, Jiraiya?" Takeru asked.

"It's awfully quiet for now, but this could be our chance." Jiraiya answered.

"To barge in? First of all, are you sure it's really them?" Chisato asked, trying to make sure, "I mean, the same group who carted off the petrified bridegrooms?"

"I'm not mistaken. There's been another petrified bridegroom carted off before you arrived." Jiraiya said.

"What kind of twisted Black Market sold human statues like that? !" Takeru was getting riled up hearing it, clenching his fist, "I'm no police like Hoji, but if I ever see a place like that, I'll really tear that place apart with my bare hands!"

"Well it happens. I've been dealing with that kind of criminals in the past." Hoji said, until he nodded, "Anytime now, Takeru?"

"Oh, right. If Jiraiya says now is the time, let's do it. Just be wary of traps. Let's go." Takeru said as the four also nodded and followed them to the main door. As expected, the main door was locked. There was no answer knocking either.

"Maybe there's nobody home?" Mei wondered.

"No… I can feel that someone's there. Stand back, everybody." Takeru said as he gestured to the rest to take several steps back. He gathered all the Aura Power inside his body, concentrated it to his fist as he took a striking pose… "HII-YAAAH!" With that, he launched a punch to the door, breaking it and letting the team enter.

Quickly, the team entered the house. Eventually, they came to the basement where they saw Michael sculpting a statue, while the statues were standing there. "Hold it right there!" Takeru yelled angrily, catching Michael's attention.

"W… what? ! How did you…!" Michael was angry hearing it as he turned back… and when he saw Hoji, he's surprised, "I… is that you, Hoji…? !"

"You…!" Hoji was shocked, as if he recognized the alien, "Michael of the Planet Angelo! So you were ordering these…!"

"Huh? Do you know him, Hoji?" Chisato asked.

"Oh, it was just from a minor case before…" Hoji answered, remembering how he met Michael.

* * *

_Back then, it was before Akaza Banban entered the services of SPD. The police force also tries to become a good citizen, helping the innocents rather than just arresting criminals. While patrolling together with his ESPer partner Jasmine, Hoji came across some drunken humans harassing an alien. The two stopped the drunken men to harass the alien further, and the alien was very grateful. This alien was Michael, and he's been ridiculed as a failure of a merchant. However, both young polices didn't seem to think like that, and even Jasmine considered him a little cute. She offered to buy a souvenir from Michael, which he happily sold. Hoji also gave him an encouragement to not give up so much. Maybe he's not a pro merchant or sculptor, but if he keeps trying, he may reach that status. Michael happily saw the two resume their patrol…_

* * *

"I thought you would heed to my words. But to sink this low…!" Hoji was angered looking at Michael, "Why did you think I saved you back then? ! So you could do crimes like this? !"

"Crime? ! I didn't do anything wrong!" Michael protested, "I was just ordering some model for my inspiration! To create a human-shaped sculpture! That has been the tradition of the Planet Angelo, but all I could create were just small-sized sculpture! It didn't sell well, and as a result, I'm stuck here! I had to get out of this poverty! I need to sell something!"

"Even if… in process…" Chisato was also equally angered as she pointed to the bridegroom statue, "You would take away the happiness of many people? ! Do you know where did these came from? ! Live humans, turned to stone by a monster!"

"Wait… what…? !" At this point, Michael was shocked. Did he really ask for humans to be turned to stone for his fortune?

"Maybe humans wronged you in the past." Hoji said as he was preparing something on his pocket, "But that doesn't excuse you for this kind of revenge! Do you really want to be considered an Alienizer? !"

"A-Alienizer? !" Michael was further shocked.

"_Unforgivable._" Hoji said as he was about to unleash his SP License, probably to deliver justice. "I thought you were decent, but you threw away the trust I and Jasmine gave. You will pay for that!"

"Wait, Hoji!" In a sudden, it was Takeru who stopped Hoji from acting rash by putting his hand on his shoulder, "There's something wrong with this, don't act rash!"

"Let go, Takeru!" Hoji yelled, "This is already a criminal case!"

"No!" Takeru yelled back at him, "Look at him!" As Takeru pointed, Michael was on the ground, bawling uncontrollably.

"Please don't do it! Please don't delete me!" Michael cried and begged, "I… I wanted some quick cash… but I never thought I'd be harming humans like this! I never hated the humans, if I knew this was what I'd get, I'd never accept this deal! Please forgive me! Waaaahhh…!"

"Crocodile tears?" Hoji asked. This was a common tactic for some criminals to avoid punishment after all.

"Looks genuine enough to me." Jiraiya commented, as the rest nodded, "Probably it may be that Abrellar was taking advantage of his state, if his description is to go by."

"We can't be sure until we're set. Don't worry… I won't do anything rash." Hoji took a deep breath as he took out the SP License, "Michael of the Planet Angelo… for ordering the petrification of humans for pure profit… _Judgment._"

The Judgment time was sent to Michael, who continued to cry and bawl. And for this time… he got the blue O result, meaning that he was innocent. "_Oh My God_." Hoji was shocked, "That was a close one… I nearly arrested an innocent man. Thank you… Takeru." He might not be as much as a perfectionist as he was before, that one mistake would send him into a spiraling depression. But if he committed this mistake, it would be an irreversible mistake that he'll regret. "Uh… Michael? I'm… sorry. If you really didn't mean it, then you're innocent, and we won't hurt you."

"I'm honest, Hoji… I don't want to hurt the humans! I just want to be a successful sculptor…" Michael said, as he started to calm down.

"Then you do your best." Takeru said, putting his hand on Michael's shoulder. "As long as you never give up, you will find a way!"

"Ah… Hoji also used to say that… and I just took the cheat's way…" Michael said, "No wonder I'm a failure. Perhaps it's time I realize that…"

"I don't think so." Mei said as she was carrying some small sculptures, particularly animals like birds or rabbits, "Did you make these? They're so cute…"

"I made those, Miss. But they won't sell." Michael stated, still not really feeling hopeful.

"Maybe you're not selling them to the right people?" Mei suggested, "Just try selling it to children. They may sell well."

"But… after this, I…" Michael was about to protest further, but at that point, Mei didn't listen and just proceeded to give him a sweet hug.

"We don't blame you for this. You were just being used. I'm sure you're a good man, Michael. You can always try again… Please, believe me." She encouraged him.

"I… I… all right, I'll try, Miss." Michael said as eventually he started receiving his vigor to start over again. When he looked at Mei smiling, it was a very sweet smile that was engraved onto Michael's mind. He felt refreshed and a bit inspired. "I'll try your advice, and I'll do it the straight path of honesty again. Thank you, all of you."

"Well, I'm glad you see the error of your ways." Chisato said, much more relieved, "But how are we going to stop that creature? If we destroy her, I'm sure these men would be back to normal, right?"

"Hm… since it's Medusa… I think we have to lure her." Jiraiya said, thinking hard about the creature, "We need something like a mirror, preferably a small one to reflect her gaze so we can freely attack."

"Mirror… yes!" Mei finally remembered something about the lore of the monster, "Mirror played a great part in defeating Dora Medusa in the past. Her petrifying gaze would be reflected by the mirror, so…"

"Then we'll first need a mirror." Takeru concluded, "Let's see if the Bonds store one."

"Um…" Michael suddenly interrupted. "I'm not sure if this can help… but I… once sculpted this mirror…" He then handed down a small mirror to Takeru, which he could handle with his hand. "It… may come in handy."

"Really? Thanks, Michael! We'll never forget your contribution!" Takeru said happily, the face that was once angry has become happy and glad.

"We got the tools, but how are we going to reach the Dora Medusa and catch her off guard?" Hoji asked.

"Hm…" Chisato was thinking and looked at the statues that Michael stored. Something brilliant flashed in her head, "Hey! I've got a great idea! That Dora Medusa just targets bridegrooms it seems. So…"

"Hm… _oh yes!_" Jiraiya eventually nodded as he finally realized what's going on.

"So… came up with something?" Hoji asked.

"Yes, we'll prepare this right away. Come on, Hoji, we got work to do!" Takeru said, smiling as he led the rest of the team away.

* * *

And eventually, the team relocated to a church. In there, they assembled a faux-wedding… with Takeru acting as the priest, Hoji as the bridegroom and Mei as the bride, while Jiraiya was posing as the sole audience and Chisato acting like the photographer.

"Sure this is gonna work, Takeru?" Hoji asked, a bit embarrassed. He's never done such stint before.

"As long as everyone cooperates and make it as realistic as possible, it should be!" Takeru tried to reassure.

"Realistic? ! But this is like stealing Mei's first kiss!" Hoji was shocked hearing it. He didn't know the details, but if he went through it, it's like he's stealing Mei her right to be with someone she loved.

"First… Kiss…?" Surprised, Mei asked. She was the Warrior of Love, but dealing with universal love, not the romantic love, so she wasn't so familiar with such term, 'I thought it's just in the movies…'

"Just pretend, but make it look realistic while pretending! You can do that, right?" Takeru tried to reassure them, "Okay, we got no time to argue, if we're successful, she'll come right in. Let's do this." With that, the faux-wedding was underway. Jiraiya just watched, a bit uneasy, while he looked at Chisato who seemed to be taking portraits enthusiastically, enjoying herself a bit too much. However, reminded with his duties, he pressed a remote switch nearby and the church was soon.

"… And so, the bridegroom may now kiss the bride…" Takeru, being the priest, said in the most 'serene' tone he could get.

Hoji just looked at Mei, embarrassed. He was sweating hard, never once he meant on taking on a romance with his senior Sentai Warrior. He looked at Mei, who tried her best to smile and assure that it'll be okay. 'Okay, it's just pretending… it's just pretending… I'm just gonna keep my lips a few centimeters away from hers and everything will be okay…' With that, he slowly moved his head forward.

Mei herself was trying to keep her composure too. Like Hoji, she was embarrassed and her face was getting hot, she's blushing. She didn't really know how it's like, it's a mixture of joy and fluster. Her heart was a bit too pure to understand this by herself. However, she knew the mission was at hand and she had to hold on. Thus she moved her head towards Hoji and closed her eyes…

And at that moment, when Jiraiya looked behind, there was a woman walking by. However, Jiraiya only gave her a passing look. It was then there was a loud hissing. The woman suddenly mutated her body, turning into Dora Medusa. "Wha? !" There was a loud scream by the team, acting like they're legitimately surprised as they began to cower.

Dora Medusa then glared at Hoji. Her eyes staring at him, it unleashed a flash of light. If he saw that, he would become a statue… But in a very quick moment, Mei reached the mirror from Michael from her wedding dress and put it in front of Hoji's face. The flash was reflected back to Dora Medusa. However, her snakes suddenly covered her head, as if trying to protect its master. As a result, her snakes were all petrified, making Dora Medusa having stone hair. As if it wasn't enough, the petrification glare was too powerful that her eyes turned to stone as well.

"Success! Good work, guys!" Takeru said as the team gathered to him, with Dora Medusa being unable to see. The monster fled outside, however. "You're not getting away from here, monster!" The team then gave chase and faced that there were Golems now assisting her.

"I've heard the legends of you, Dora Medusa. In the past, you once fell in love with a human and was contemplating to betray Bandora." Mei stated, "But then the human left you. From that day forward, you had a grudge towards men in love. Because you never learn to forgive… you now endanger the lives of many innocent men not involved with your vendetta! It's the same as always isn't it? !"

"And you made the relatives of those men you petrified suffer as well!" Chisato said, reminded with the anguish of the young girl she met the other day, "I'll never forgive you for this… Takeru! Let's go!"

"Of course. Get ready everyone!" Takeru said as he prepared to transform, followed by the rest.

"**AURA MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

And the five immediately transformed. Dora Medusa, however, wouldn't just stand there. She couldn't even comment as she was limited to hissing.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"We are…!" For this once, Red Mask cut the speech short as they immediately went for the ultimate declaration, "**SUPER SENTAI!**"

"OK, let's cut the chase and…" Red Mask said as he cracked his knuckles, preparing to attack. But as he raised one of his fist, a chain was thrown to that fist, tying him, "What? ! This chain…!"

"Oops, hold it right there… Takeru." A familiar voice rang as someone entered the battlefield… Kiros. "Five of you able warriors against a severely crippled monster? Don't you think it's a bit unfair?"

"You're the last person I expect to hear that from." Red Mask said as he struggled to release the chain from his hand.

"You let go!" Ninja Black shouted as he aimed something to Kiros, "Kakulaser!"

"Rrgh! Damn!" Kiros, distracted, ended up setting loose on the chain, releasing Red Mask. "Bah, no matter. That's just greeting." He then looked behind as he saw an Ungler soldier from the mass of soldiers he brought. "Hey, come here, you!"

The Ungler soldier moved forward as he was confused on what's going on. Kiros then unleashed a red bottle, "Present from that Agent Abrellar. Drink! You'll get the biggest promotion if we win!" Excited with the promise of promotion, the Ungler Soldier quickly drank the bottle. Just as Kiros experienced it before, the Ungler Soldier got an increase in strength. If it could laugh right now, it would be laughing. But that laughter proved to be short lived.

Kiros pushed the very Ungler to near Dora Medusa. Surprisingly, one snake hair still remained and with the last ounce of its strength, it bit the strengthened Ungler, quickly petrifying him, and was used as a totem for Dora Medusa. Holding the totem seemed to also restore her eyesight as it seemed the potion's strength was channeled through the totem to her. However, with the heroes transformed, the eyes wouldn't have any effect.

"You gave that soldier hope only to snatch it away in that very second? !" Mega Yellow yelled in shock, seeing how Kiros treated his soldier, "You monster!"

"Damn it, shut up!" Kiros yelled before he took command to the rest, "Get them!"

The team then began fighting against the Ungler soldiers and Golems. However, while they were fighting, Kiros was sneaking next to them along with Dora Medusa.

"Gotcha… now die! Crescent Screw!" Kiros then unleashed his attack, spinning his chain and creating a tornado to the Super Sentai, and each had to dodge in separate ways. Dora Medusa, on the other hand, confronted Mega Yellow as she hissed and raised her totem.

"You know that's not gonna work on me! Blade Arm!" Mega Yellow exclaimed as she prepared her Blade Arm and once again attempted to chop the totem. However, the totem was far stronger as it was made of a strengthened soldier, and this time, it was Mega Yellow who was knocked back. "Impossible…! It's far sturdier…!"

"Chisato!" Red Mask attempted to help her, but at that moment, Kiros got on his way.

"Not so fast, Takeru! I'm claiming your head today!" Kiros beckoned as the two of them began fighting. In the meantime, the Dora Medusa hissed as it was about to stomp Mega Yellow with her totem, until…

_SHUUUU… SNAP!_

The remaining snake hair was suddenly separated from Dora Medusa as it was torn by a shuriken thrown by Ninja Black. As she looked behind, he unleashed his other weapon. "Shinobi Knuckle!" As Ninja Black unleashed his knuckle, it shot out a rope that circled around the totem and he attempted to pull it off.

However it was heavier than he thought. Dora Medusa hissed as she pulled the totem, dragging Ninja Black off the sky. 'Chance! Now!' Ninja Black thought as he let himself swinging and ended up diving right into the totem… and punched it with all his might using the Shinobi Knuckle, right on the place where Mega Yellow tried to chop the totem up.

_WHAM!_

Unfortunately, that didn't do much and punching too hard caused Ninja Black to collapse on his knees, even his actual knuckles were in pain of punching something so hard. "_Damn_, that didn't work…!" As a result, Dora Medusa just kicked him, and threw him off in quite a distance, although Mega Yellow was approaching him.

"You okay, Jiraiya? !" She asked, worried.

"Man… someone really needs a big strength to lift up something like that… That explains the kick…" Ninja Black said as he got back to his feet, while rubbing his pained knuckle.

"I know. We'll have to find out her weak spot… which may not be the hair. Let's go!" As Mega Yellow said that, they moved forward to fight against the monster.

In the meantime, after several rounds of fighting, both Red Mask and Kiros hadn't gained the upper hand. "Being dead hasn't rusted your skills, I see…" Red Mask said.

"Yeah, but you're a bit rusty." Kiros taunted, "That's why you're gonna…!" But in the same time as he said that, there was an arrow shot to one of his arms, distracting him. The culprit turned out to be Ptera Ranger who approached her friend.

"Takeru, please leave this one to me." She said, "Jiraiya and Chisato could need some help! Perhaps you can break that totem. It seems stronger than the last one."

"Yeah." Red Mask nodded. He did saw how they attempted to break the totem, but he should give them a hand, and he would, if Kiros didn't get in his way. Nodding, he then ran off to help the two friends as Ptera Ranger stood to face Kiros, who, while in pain, ripped away the arrow stuck in his arm.

"You're gonna pay for that, my dear." Kiros beckoned as he unleashed something from his pocket. The same drug he gave to the now-totem Ungler soldier as he drank it and became more powerful.

He quickly got near Ptera Ranger and started swinging his chain, attacking her. While at first she was able to dodge and strike with her Ptera Arrow, but his overwhelming strength eventually overwhelmed her as he managed to circle her with his chain and dragged him near her.

"You remember last time we met?" Kiros said, making her remember their last encounter when he had a monster turn Hoji's girlfriend into a vengeful one.

"I do. I just know you're a disgusting person!" Ptera Ranger spat at him.

"Oh don't say that. I want to admit one thing, girl." Kiros said as he put his head near hers, "You're beautiful, your voice is angelic. I'm going to make you mine."

"What kind of joke is that? !" Ptera Ranger yelled as she stomped on his feet. But due to the drug, he didn't feel a thing, "You pig! I'll never surrender myself to you…!"

"Ooh, that itches." Kiros said, "But no matter! After you, then maybe your other friend too! No women can resist my charm and they exist to become mine!"

However, at that time, when Kiros were looking behind trying to see how Dora Medusa was fighting, the first thing he saw was the fist of Deka Blue rammed straight on his face. "Is that how you view women?" Deka Blue said as Kiros fell and Ptera Ranger managed to free herself and grabbed her Ptera Arrow again, "Well it's no wonder nobody will ever accept your proposal! You do not know how to treat a lady properly!"

"You talk pretty big! Let's see how you face me, man-to-man!" Kiros said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Not using your weapons, huh?" Deka Blue said, as it was the first time.

"With the Megagestrine X from Abrellar, even my physical strength alone will be enough!" Kiros boasted as he was cracking his knuckles.

The Megagestrine. It was an illegal drug, formerly sold by the Alienizer Tylerian Durden in black market for underground fighting ring. It increased the mass of muscle and endurance, making the consumer more powerful. Abrellar eventually caught wind of it and created a liquid version of it, called Megagestrine X. And while it didn't display muscle increase, it would make the consumer even more powerful than a normal Megagestrine. This was the same thing Kiros used during the case with Teresa. And also the same thing he gave to the Ungler soldier turned to Dora Medusa's totem.

"Oh, just another man fighting with drugs. Fine." As Deka Blue said that, he put his D-Rod aside and also cracked his knuckles, and eventually put on a boxing stance, "_Come on._"

"Hoji, what are you doing? ! His strength is abnormal!" Ptera Ranger protested, worried about him.

"Don't worry, Mei. I've got my experience of fighting a man on drugs. I'm confident that I'll win." Deka Blue said, remembering the last time he went on an underground fighting ring and eventually winning due to stubbornness. "Why don't you just help Takeru and the rest?"

Ptera Ranger was unsure at first. But then, Kiros rushed in and attacked Deka Blue. However, he got up and also returned his strikes. Unfortunately for him, Kiros with the Megagestrine X was stronger than his opponent in the underground fighting ring, thus he was able to overwhelm Deka Blue. Despite that, he kept getting up every time he fell. Looking at his determination, Ptera Ranger decided to trust his spirit and headed towards Red Mask and the rest to fight Dora Medusa.

* * *

In the meantime, it was still both Ninja Black and Mega Yellow who were attacking Dora Medusa head on, all while Red Mask was meditating behind them. He was trying to find out a spot within her totem so the team had an easier time to defeat her.

"Black Bow!"

"Mega Sling!"

Both Ninja Black and Mega Yellow shot their signature weapons to Dora Medusa on the spots they hit it back then. It still did little to destroy it and only served to rile her up and after a massive hiss, she tried swinging it down trying to clobber them with it. It was at that time Red Mask was suddenly running forward…

"Target found…! God Hand!" With his powered fist, Red Mask punched the exact spot with all his might. Even the totem could not handle such concentrated attack after being attacked in that spot several times. As a result, the totem shattered into pieces. "All right, success!"

"Takeru, watch out! The totem may be gone, but her immense strength…!" Mega Yellow warned him as suddenly in a single punch, Dora Medusa knocked Red Mask away.

She was hissing again, trying to attack further, until suddenly her eye was impaled by an arrow. It turned out that Ptera Ranger from afar shot it on the eye, and incidentally weakening it. The eye was the source of her strength as well, thus Dora Medusa felt really weak. "It's weakened!" Ptera Ranger exclaimed, but then she looked at how Dora Medusa tried to pluck the arrow away from her eyes, "Hurry, you have to beat her before…!"

"Got it!" Red Mask said as he turned towards the other two, "Let's hurry, guys!"

"OK!" Nodding, Ninja Black and Mega Yellow followed him. Dora Medusa was so close in plucking the arrow on her eye, but before that happened…

"Masky Crash!"

"Kakure Ryuu! Nagareboshi!"

"Blade Arm!"

The combined attacks of the three Sentai warriors in a continuous wave were damaging enough to the weakened monster as it was eventually destroyed. "That's great, guys!" Ptera Ranger said as she approached the team.

"Yeah, what about Hoji, though?" Red Mask asked. At that moment, Ptera Ranger realized in what condition he's in and turned towards the fight with Kiros… and found Deka Blue just easily tossed away.

"Hahaha! You're weak, man! You can't beat me!" Kiros taunted as he moved forward. However, at that moment, Deka Blue got up and suddenly waved his finger as if telling him to go on.

"Bring it."

"Why you! I'll kill you without even using my weapon!" Angrily, Kiros ran forward and throw a punch to Deka Blue again… but he dodged it, and delivered a hook to his face. "Grr…!" Kiros threw another punch, but it was dodged and he got a straight for his troubles. "What? !"

"You don't know your weakness in this style!" Deka Blue said as he punched him on the stomach before Kiros could retaliate, "Your punches are strong, but they're not focused, easy to dodge, I read your moves like picture book!" And then he launched another hook on Kiros' hips, while continuing the lecture, "Because you were so sure you could beat me in a few hits, just because you do drugs! But you know what…" As he said that, he launched several straight punches to Kiros' chest and face, "I'm the most stubborn person in this universe! That's why I'll never give up, especially to the likes of you!" As he said that, he launched an uppercut on Kiros' chin, knocking him away.

"Grr… did you think I've lost? !" Kiros said as he grabbed his chain and sickle, "All right, no more games. Now I'll rip you apart! Crescent…" He was about to unleash the Crescent Screw. However, as it was before, after using the Megagestrine X for awhile, it had the side effect of depowering the user. As such, Kiros stumbled. "Wha… damn! You…! You're called Hoji, aren't you…! I'll remember your name… you've got the honor to enter the list of people I want to kill… next to Takeru…!" As he said that, he gathered his remaining strength to eventually leap away to retreat.

"Kill me if you can. I'll not let that happen." Deka Blue said, but as he looked behind, he saw the rest of the team looking in awe, "… What?"

"That was cool!" Mega Yellow praised, "You never told me you're such a good boxer!"

"Don't get any silly ideas, I'm not pursuing that career path!" Deka Blue said, "So how was the monster?"

"Destroyed." Red Mask nodded as he approached Deka Blue, "But I will be honest that you're really talented! Boxing… I'd be interested to learn a thing or two in such style."

"It's no talent. It's just hard work." Deka Blue replied, nodding. He did remember that he was praised as a genius at hard work. And just because it's been a long while since he used such style didn't mean he forgot. The facilities at Bonds also provided him chance to train, aside of his marksmanship.

"But you really showed that creep Kiros!" Ptera Ranger added, "You should be proud, Hoji!"

"Hey, hey, Hoji!" Ninja Black suggested, "Isn't this where you'd say…"

"Oh, you request it? Fine." Deka Blue said as he looked at the rest, "With this, case _complete!_" And afterwards, he pointed his thumb to him, "_Super Cool…_"

"_Perfect._" At this point, Red Mask also said the phrase as he lightly hit Deka Blue's knuckle with his own.

* * *

Several days passed, and the team was walking around, witnessing a wedding from afar. The wedding went uninterrupted. "Now this is more like it." Takeru said, satisfied, "That's how weddings are meant to be! Ah…" However, at the end he sighed a little. He dreamed that such event would happen between him and Mio/Princess Iyal. However, she had her duties and he respected that so they had to separate. However, he wouldn't let it drag him down and continued to smile.

"Say, any news about that Michael?" Mei suddenly asked.

"Oh, he just sent a letter to me." Hoji answered, "He said your advice worked well, Mei. He found more profit by selling smaller, cuter sculptures. He's liked by the children now, who buy his items a lot."

"Wow… thank goodness. I'm glad for him." Mei smiled hearing it.

"Also, he gave me this too." Hoji said as he pulled a photo. It was actually an incomplete statue of a human, but Mei's face was carved in it, "I think you gave him quite the impression when you hugged him. He won't sell it yet, though."

"Oh my, I don't know what to say…" Mei said, holding her cheek in slight embarrassment, "He still got a long way to go though, but he's taking the necessary steps to improve." She continued to smile looking at the picture. Until she eventually shifted her look to Hoji, "Say, Hoji… Aren't you glad?"

"Glad about what?"

"Your mission this time ended on a high note." Mei said, holding him on his arm, "Now you don't need to do 'that' anymore. You should be happy."

"Well… to be honest, this mission might've been on a downer note if you all didn't stop me in time." Hoji replied, reminded on how he nearly committed a mistake, and he listened to his friends' advice. For the first one he'd thank, he held Mei on her shoulders, "Thank you…"

"Hoji…" Mei, slightly embarrassed, uttered. Her face started blushing as he stared at her. It was like that time when she nearly kissed him even if it's for fake wedding. Her heart was too pure and innocent, she didn't know what was going on, 'My heart was beating hard, my face feels hot. What am I thinking?'

However… from behind them, they heard voices.

"Wow, you saved it?" Takeru's voice was heard.

"Yeah, they look like a real couple! Cool!" And so was Jiraiya's.

"They're so cute together… I wonder if any of the Dekaranger or the Zyuranger came to see these… maybe one of them may get jealous?" And the last heard voice was Chisato's.

When Hoji and Mei looked at their friends, they saw them looking at Chisato's digital camera. Then they realized that Chisato was literally taking pictures of the fake wedding. Both Hoji and Mei got their faces frozen as they approached them.

"What are you doing, Chisato? ! Delete those pictures!" He yelled.

"Nuh-uh, these are awesome pictures! It'll be a pity to delete it!" Chisato teased.

"You both look really cute together!" Jiraiya added, causing Mei to blush.

"Jiraiya, stop it! Geez!" At that point, Mei set her sights to Chisato, "Chisato! You tell me how to remove that!"

"Oh, I'll do it." Hoji said as he ran and attempted to catch the camera.

"Takeru, catch!" However, at that point, Chisato threw the camera to Takeru, and he grabbed it. Knowing what's happening, he kept his grin.

"Come on, Hoji, don't be so uptight! These are good pictures! And we're not gonna spread it for blackmail or something, so don't worry!" Takeru tried to assure him, still smiling.

"Not funny, Takeru!" Hoji retorted as he tried grabbing the camera to Takeru. However, he threw that to Jiraiya instead.

"Oh, please just cut it out!" Still embarrassed, Mei also tried grabbing the camera from Jiraiya, but he tossed it to the free Chisato. And eventually, both Hoji and Mei ended up chasing after the camera which was tossed playfully here and there by Takeru, Jiraiya and Chisato.

This has been a successful mission that ended on a high note for Super Sentai. They hope to keep their spirits and continue to make further successful missions, so they can defeat the evil team and return to their homes. With high spirits, nothing is impossible! Keep going and good luck, Super Sentai!

* * *

"That's an interesting group." Unknown to the Super Sentai, shadows of two figures were spotted behind them. They're hiding within an alley, "Dokomo. The time for us to strike has come. Tell her to get ready as well."

"As you sssssay, my lord."

A woman was passing by and noticed such conversation. However, when she looked at the alley, the two figures were gone. The woman then reached out a cellphone as she spoke, "This is Shibolena. It looks like we may not be the only one who's fighting the Super Sentai. We should keep an extra cautious eye. And that goes especially to you, Gasha Dokuro."

* * *

"What was that supposed to mean, that stupid woman!" Gasha Dokuro, who was communicating through the main computer of their base, said in anger and frustration, "Extra cautious eye? ! Ha! Whoever this other group is, they'll have no time to defeat the Super Sentai… because I will defeat them first!"

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: And there we go about the new chapters! It was filler, but there was a little chemistry between Hoji and Mei. But no worries, it's not romantic. And if it is, it's just Mei being confused. Zyuranger didn't get into romance much, so it might be a bit like her first time or something. However, there's a new shadow looming! Can you just smell the hinting of something new with it? Next chapter will have a new series appearing, so let the guessing game begin!

Also to note, if the italicized word wasn't really in brackets, then it means it's the Kakuranger-style visible sound effect. You know, the Batman-esque one. By the way, Ptera Arrow IS the bow and arrow, so don't think it's just the arrow.

At any rate, I await your reviews! Keep'em coming!


	12. An Unlikely Helper

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Yes this is a very quick update... but also a massive WHAMMY one! Because another character is revealed and they're not someone you'd expect! Keep reading to find out who!**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 12: An Unlikely Helper**

* * *

"And now we're reaching the finals! For the finalists, please step to the ring!"

This was a martial arts tournament. For some reason, Takeru was participating there and while he did want to have fun, he was also looking for something within there… Cash. 'If I win this, I wouldn't be indebted by Chisato again!'

* * *

_As the trio of Takeru, Jiraiya and Chisato were tossing the camera to tease both Hoji and Mei, Jiraiya tossed the camera to Takeru. However, when Takeru grabbed it, he wasn't looking behind him. As a result, he tripped and the camera was thrown off to a nearby lamp post. There was a cracking sound… which would mean bad news._

"_AAAAH! NOOO!" She screamed, running to the camera. She looked at the remnant and eventually sighed, "Oh, I can't believe it! It's ruined along with the memory card! And all the photos I got… gone!"_

"_Including those portraits? Whew…" Hoji sighed in relief. Which means, no more of those fake wedding photos. On the other hand, Chisato instead got angry to Takeru._

"_Takeru, how are you going to deal with this? !" She yelled, grabbing at his collar and nearly breaking down crying, "That was my treasured camera! Are you going to make up to it? !"_

"_Well, uh… is there any way I can do it? Sorry about that…" Takeru was a bit nervous as he apologized. Would Chisato try to get him buy a new camera? But he wasn't that much of a tech savvy guy…_

"_I don't care! You replace it with a new one, same model! Buy it or whatever, it's your punishment! Hmph!" Chisato ended up facing away from Takeru like an angry young girl and walked away. Takeru had no choice but to accept the deal._

_Thankfully, Mei approached him and reassured him too. "Please don't worry about Chisato. I'll try to calm her down… But I think you should honor her request."_

"_Request? More like demand, I think… though I do know it's my fault…" Takeru stated. And as he got up, and Mei left, both Jiraiya and Hoji checked on the remnants of the camera._

"_Takeru, we can help you with the camera specifications." Hoji said, heading back to Takeru and giving him the camera, "I'll list up what you need to purchase."_

"_Great! Money won't be a problem, I suppose…" Takeru said, but at that point Jiraiya cut him off_

"_I think Chisato will forgive you more if you used your own money rather than our money." He said, shocking Jiraiya, "Don't get me wrong, I'd help you if I can, but that method may be quicker to win Chisato's trust back."_

"_Actually you're right, Jiraiya." Takeru said as he nodded, although he's a bit disappointed, "If I want her to forgive me, I gotta do it my way."_

* * *

And after that, while looking for the money, Takeru stumbled upon a martial arts tournament, with quite the good sum of money for prize. This would be enough to buy the camera as instructed by Jiraiya and he could boast to Chisato that he used his own sweats to earn the money and she'll definitely forgive him about the incident. And here he was, in the finals.

And his opponent turned out to be a woman. Claimed to be named 'Kasumi', she seemed to be a capable fighter. "Well, even if you're a woman, I will not hold back… Kasumi."

"You better not underestimate me… Takeru!" Kasumi said and as the gong was sounded, both of them moved forward and began throwing everything they got, from punches, chops, elbows, feet and knee.

Takeru fought with his best, but this Kasumi was a tough fighter. She showed determination and managed to corner him to the edge of the arena, and then there's the fact that she's a woman. Takeru would hit her, but not in a continuous way. He wanted to finish it with one clean blow.

"What's the matter? Scared?" Kasumi taunted as she continued to execute many rapid punches and kicks towards Takeru, who could only block, "You said you're not going to hold back. Liar!"

'Yes, yes, just think like that… One swoop and victory is mine…' Takeru thought, letting Kasumi think he's holding back. However, he had to admit, she's powerful. 'But man! This is one hell of a strong chick!'

And fortunately for Takeru, eventually he found out several pauses in between Kasumi's attack. On that occasion, Takeru gathered all his strength and yelled a kiai, "YAAHH!" With that, he launched a concentrated, powerful punch straight on Kasumi's stomach. It was a powerful one that she eventually slumped. The referee started the countdown. If it reached ten, she'll lose.

"One… Two… Three…!"

"LIKE HELL I'M GONNA LOSE!" Kasumi suddenly yelled and got back on her feet, clutching her stomach, "Damn it, Takeru… I won't lose to you."

'Whoa! She got back up! Ugh so much for my plan for one blow to finish it all…' Takeru thought as he took his stance again. However, that blow was a powerful one it was affecting Kasumi's speed. Her attacks became considerably slower. Takeru found a lot of openings and managed to deliver several chops that knocked her down. And by the rules of the tournament, three falls would mean defeat.

"Don't underestimate me!" Kasumi said as she gathered her strength and attempted to sweep Takeru. He reacted well, but it turned out to be a feint that what she was aiming was his chest, as she punched him with a powerful straight. 'Damn, if it wasn't for these stupid rules, I'd aim for the head…'

"Oww…" Takeru clutched his chest and got up on the fifth count, 'That's one hell of a powerful punch!'

The fight still continued and eventually, Kasumi knocked Takeru down again. But he still got up. It was truly an intense fight. It reached the climax that at one point both of them launched their own punch, towards the chest and they both connected (although Takeru did not hit the boobs). Takeru fell down as he clutched his chest in one hand and put the other on the ground. 'Can't… lose here… The prize money… Chisato's camera…!'

However, on the other hand, Kasumi remained motionless, until eventually she collapsed to the ground. The count was given to Kasumi, and she didn't get up after the tenth count.

"And we have our winner! Takeru!"

The crowd, even if it wasn't that big, bursted into cheer as the referee helped Takeru get up and raise his hand in victory. 'All right! Way to go me!' Takeru thought, triumphant. He then looked at Kasumi, 'She's powerful. She might've been a Sentai Warrior, if she was chosen…'

* * *

Takeru was carrying his bag, in which the prize money was stored there. On the way out, however, she found Kasumi walking. "Kasumi!" Takeru called, approaching.

"Oh. Takeru." Kasumi answered, as her tone was a bit cold, "What do you want?"

"Well… I just want to say… you're a powerful lady. I look forward fighting you again in the future! What says you?" As Takeru said that, he offered his hand for handshake. Although Kasumi was a bit reluctant, she also offered her hand and shook hands together.

"I'll… see if I have time." Kasumi said, "Now if you'll excuse me." As she said that, she left Takeru, who also went separate ways.

Kasumi quickly entered a nearby alley and met a handsome man clad in black leather. "I've done it, Rio-sama. I've got the list of the tournament fighters and the dojo they're attending."

"Heh… good work, 'Kasumi'…" Rio said, smirking, "Or rather… Mele." As he said that, Kasumi suddenly morphed or changed costume into a sexy green qipao reminiscent to a chameleon's green skin. They were in fact the two 'leaders' of the Rin Jyuu Ken school who opposed the Juken Sentai Gekiranger, Black Lion Rio and Mele of the Rin Jyuu Chameleon Fist. They were supposed to be dead, but for some reason, they have appeared in this realm.

"Rio-sama… is this really necessary?" Suddenly Mele questioned. She usually would obey every Rio's whims, while giggling like a lovestruck girl. However, this time, she found herself questioning Rio's plans.

"You will not question me like that, Mele. We're going." Rio's answer was extremely cold as he walked away. Mele could only follow, but she found herself unable to praise him anymore…

'What went wrong with Rio-sama lately? He's been acting weird and more ruthless… this… this can't be…'

* * *

"Hey come on…" Back in Bonds, Chisato was a bit confused. She was blindfolded and told to sit down without opening it.

"Just wait over here, OK? You can open later!" Jiraiya said as he opened the nearby door. Takeru entered there, carrying a small box. "_OK_, you can open." With that, Chisato opened the blindfold and in the same time, Takeru pulled something from the box… a new camera.

"Wow…! It was even the similar model!" Chisato said happily as she looked at the camera, "And more advanced too!"

"You liked it?" Takeru said, handing the camera to Chisato, "Well, thank goodness my sweats and bruises didn't come in vain."

"Huh? How did you…" Chisato asked.

"He participated in a martial arts local tournament a few days ago to buy that for you." Hoji, who was tinkering with a computer, answered.

"My…" Chisato didn't know what to say, except looking at Takeru and eventually smiled, "Thank you, Takeru!"

"So that means I'm forgiven for that one… incident?" Takeru asked as Chisato eventually nodded. He's glad that at least that's behind them. At least now he could investigate more about the Seven Colors he found last time, in peace. "Say, where's Mei?"

"Investigating a certain incident involving a mysterious dojo trasher." Hoji answered, typing in some keys in the computer, and eventually displayed a news website to the big monitor, which showed the headline of a dojo being trashed, all students and instructors were heavily wounded. "This might be some sort of new Alienizer in the work. Or any of those monsters."

"_God damn it._" Jiraiya said, clenching his fist, "They may be planning to lure us out. But what kind of trap this time?"

It was after that Takeru received a call from someone… Mei. "Takeru! We found him!"

"Oh, hey, Mei!" Takeru greeted, "I see you mastered that device quick. Hoji's teachings did good for you?"

"This is no time for that!" Mei insisted, "I spotted the dojo trasher! Quick! Come to me so we can catch him!"

"What? ! Got it!" Knowing the seriousness of the news, Takeru closed his communication from Masky Brace, and looked at the rest of his teammates, "Speak of the devil and he's spotted. Hoji, locate Mei's position. Once we got the position, we'll rendezvous with her!"

"_Roger!_" Hoji answered as he eventually tried tracking Mei through the computer.

"You know, you can speak normally without English…" Jiraiya corrected.

"_Shut up._ It's an SPD procedure." Hoji cut off any complains until he quickly managed to pin down Mei's location, "All right, got it."

"Good. Let's go!" As Takeru rallied, the four headed off to the teleporter to meet Mei…

* * *

As Takeru and his team met up with Mei, they wasted no time to enter the dojo. In there, they were displayed with sprawling bodies of many students. There were two trashers, a lizard-like creature and… Mele. However, Takeru was shocked on witnessing Mele. Her face looked familiar. "N… no way… Kasumi? !"

"Huh? You know her?" Jiraiya asked, as he's never seen her.

"She was my opponent during the finals!" Takeru exclaimed, "What are you doing in that… getup and monster?"

"I know that face." Hoji exclaimed, recalling something, "She's one of the enemies of the Super Sentai team… Juken Sentai Gekiranger! Although she did help them in the end… along with the other one."

"Then why is she the dojo trasher now? !" Chisato asked, unable to understand what it meant as Mele just kept silent.

"Hoo… so it wasn't the Gekirangers that I face here…" A voice echoed as the dojo main hall opened and an elderly man was knocked away. And from there came Rio. "You are also the same as them… Super Sentai, isn't it?"

"You… who are you and why are you doing this? !" Mei asked in anger.

"Ah yes, introduction. I should've done that before going for the next phase." As Rio said that, he held his hand forward and clenched, "Rinki Gaisou." With that, he transformed now enarmored into black lion armor, while Mele also transformed into an armored chameleon-like monster. "As purely fierce as a lion, as powerful as a lion. My name is… Black Lion Rio."

The lizard-like monster also spoke, "I am the greatesssst sssstudent of the Rin Jyuu Ken sssschool. I am Dokomo… Rin Jyuu Komodo-Ken Masssster!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior_. Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"… Yes, now I recall, that's their names." Hoji said, recalling the names Rio and Mele. However, he didn't recall the other, "I don't think I've heard about 'Dokomo' though. Probably… just an Alienizer-like monster."

"So… Kasumi was just a guise, isn't it!" Takeru said as he clenched his fist in anger, "How dare you!"

"Takeru… it was a good fight, really. I'm honest." Mele said, complimenting. "But if you get in the way of Rio-sama… Then I'll kill you!"

"Yes. They're in my way. Mele, Dokomo… kill them." Rio suddenly said. At that point, Mele was shocked.

'What was the point, Rio-sama? ! You've been… acting strange lately… This needless killing, trashing on useless people that didn't bother us…'

"Mele." Rio said in a menacing tone, cowing Mele to obey.

"Y-yes, Rio-sama!" As Mele said that, she turned towards Dokomo, "Let's do it, Dokomo." The two Rin Jyuu Ken masters took their stance towards the Super Sentai, ready to fight, while Rio just stood there, confident with his strength that he needed not to take a stance.

"Damn, we've got to defend ourselves!" Takeru signaled everyone to transform and fight. As they nodded, they prepared themselves.

"**AURA MASK! RED MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

As the Super Sentai transformed, everyone engaged in battle. However, both Mele and Dokomo were expert in close combat and they were all having a little bit of trouble. With the three men engaging Dokomo, Mele attacked Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow.

"Too weak!" As they were more proefficient with long range attacks, Mele continued to stay close and beat them severely. "So this is all the other Super Sentai got. You're even more losers than the Gekirangers… How low can you be…"

"Ugh…" Ptera Ranger was struggling. As such, Mele attempted to strike once more. However, Ptera Ranger managed to leap in time and shot her on the shoulder while leaping. "But I hope you did not underestimate my reflexes!"

"Why you…!" Mele growled in annoyance. However at that point, Mega Yellow was near her.

"Don't think that I'm that harmless in close range!" She said as she attempted to kick Mele, although it was blocked. "Blade Arm!" Making her arm as steel as a blade, she tried chopping Mele on the chest, knocking her away.

"Not bad…! But I'm not done!" Mele then jumped at both Mega Yellow and Ptera Ranger, spreading her hand forward and… "Rin Jyuu Chameleon Ken - Ringi: Zekka Ryouran!" She let out her steel tongue, which continued to stab on both ladies, knocking them away. However, both still managed to get up. "Well, your spirit is admirable. But you're still weaker than Rio-sama… and ME!" As she said that, Mele launched herself forward, closing in the gap and fighting in close range.

However, it was at that time Ptera Ranger sensed that something was off, 'Her attacks were weaker than before! What is this…? It's like there was some doubts in her…'

In the meantime, Dokomo was fighting against both Deka Blue and Ninja Black. As they were unfamiliar on how Rinshi fought, they had a little trouble fighting. Eventually, Dokomo was getting ready for one big attack. "Now you won't esssscape! Rin Jyuu Komodo Ken - Ringi: Kibahagane!"

"No you don't! D-Sniper!" Reactively, Deka Blue prepared his sniper while Ninja Black also prepared his own ranged weapon.

"Black Bow!" Both shot down the hands of Dokomo. However, once the dusts cleared, two sets of chain with their ends looking like jaws of a dragon were shot and bit on both the hands of Deka Blue and Ninja Black. "_What!_"

"Hahaha! Now you're in my grassssp! There issss no esssscape, once I bite I don't let go…" As Dokomo said that, he pulled his hand, which the chain came from, and pulled Deka Blue and Ninja Black to the sky, throwing them off. "Until your bonessss break!"

"Gah! Urrgh…!" Deka Blue was writhing in pain as his hand started to hurt more and more. However, as Dokomo said, the chains wouldn't come off.

And in the same time, Red Mask fought off against Rio. As compared to the previous fight with Mele during the tournament, Rio was far more vicious and aggressive. His punches and kicks were strong and accurate, and Red Mask felt like being tossed around like a rag doll. "This is it? This is the power of the senior of Geki Red? You disappoint me, you and your karate, Red Mask!"

"Damn… why…!" Red Mask said as he tried to get up, "Did you forgot how you helped the Gekiranger? ! At least according to that book. Or was that… a lie…? !"

"That's nothing for you to know." Rio replied coldly as he kicked Red Mask on the chest, and continued to stomp it on the ground, "I guess you deserve to die after all."

"Unfortunate… but I refuse to die like this! Never…!" Red Mask said as he drew something to his hand… his Masky Blade. He attempted to thrust Rio on the stomach. However, Rio was able to grab the Masky Blade… and in one bend, he broke the Masky Blade in two. "What? !"

"Weapons are useless against me." Rio continued as he prepared a hand gesture, "Rin Jyuu Lion Ken - Ringi: Gouyu Kouha!" Thrusting his hand to Red Mask, he sent out an image of lion which immediately tackled on Red Mask and thrusted him to the Earth, creating a hole in his place and de-morphed him.

Rio looked around and saw how the battle went. He saw Dokomo doing well, but Mele wasn't. "Mele… I thought with your strength you could kill them with ease, but turns out you can't. Useless girl… I no longer have need of you. You can die along with those two." He exclaimed.

"Eh? ! !" Mele was distracted as she heard the last parts, "Rio-sama, what are you…!"

"Ringi: Raigou Dan!" Rio then flung a ball full of Rinki, directed at Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow, uncaring that Mele was still on the line of fire.

"Rio-sama, no! Mele… Mele is…!" Mele begged as she knew she couldn't escape. As a result, the three girls were thrown away, all of them de-morphed. "Why… Rio-sama…" Mele could only utter words of sadness, as her body laid battered and weak.

As Rio looked at how Dokomo was doing, apparently the bones of Deka Blue and Ninja Black's hands have broken and they have demorphed. "Dokomo, that's enough. We leave. They have failed to meet my expectations." Rio commanded as he walked away.

"Yesssss, Rio-sama." Dokomo said as he let go of his steel chain, "You're lucky. If I want, I will break your organssss." He then triumphantly walked away, leaving the defeated bunch.

"Wait…! Rio-sama…!" Tears started to form up in Mele's eyes, as her beloved suddenly left her to die like that, but Rio did not answer. Mele tried to reach him with her remaining strength, gritting her teeth to keep herself together, but her strength failed her as she collapsed. "Rio-sama… uu… Aah… aaah…!" Cursing at her weakness and her love betraying her, Mele sobbed herself until she lost consciousness on her own.

* * *

An hour later, a hand came out from the hole that was created by Rio. Takeru managed to claw himself back to the surface, "Damn it…! That was one powerful enemy indeed…" He commented as he got back, holding his stomach, as it hurt like hell. He scanned the surrounding and saw his friends in bad shape, "You guys OK?"

"I… I'm fine…!" Mei was the first to get up, followed by Chisato.

"It's nothing! I've had worse, seriously…" Chisato continued as she also looked at Hoji and Jiraiya, "You two, OK?"

"Guess we—Ack!" Jiraiya was about to get up, but his broken bone on the hand prevented him to get up fully, "My hand…"

"When he said he doesn't let go, he meant it…" Hoji commented as he tried getting up with his other hand, "Did he say he used 'Komodo Fist' or something? Like a Komodo Dragon… once it bit its prey, it never let go…"

"I don't think this is time for a biology lesson." Takeru said, "We have to think of a way… if that was the kind of enemy, we have to search for a Gekiranger to counter them!"

"Wait, Takeru…" Mei stopped them as she suddenly moved towards the unconscious Mele, "Let's take her with us." At that moment, Takeru looked at Mele. He felt something a little strange about this woman. For a moment he was contemplating on taking Mei's offer, thinking…

"Mei, she's the enemy!" Chisato protested, "What if she tried to sabotage our base when we're away? !"

"Chisato, didn't you feel it too? Remember when we fought her" Mei asked, causing Chisato to rethink further and remembered something, "When we fought her, it felt like she got weaker. If Takeru was in my place, I'm sure he'd say something like… 'Her fist was filled with doubts'."

"She doubted to fight us?" Chisato said, surprised.

"I think there's something wrong with her boss. Or else why would he deem her useless before he blasted us off?" Mei said, looking at the tears that flooded the area below Mele's eyes, "I also heard her sobbing back then after we were blasted. There must be something that more than meets the eye. She might be a tortured soul as well. Please, let's take care of her."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that…" Hoji said, trying to convey his suspicion.

"This might be worth a shot, though." Jiraiya suddenly added, "I also read the book, you know. But this Mele… she was counted as one of the Sentai Warriors. I want to believe that the book isn't lying."

"I can vouch for that. When she fought me in the tournament as 'Kasumi'… her fists were full of energy… and honesty." Takeru continued, "I'll be interested to see what's in store for her." As he said that and gave his approval, Mei nodded and lifted Mele up on her shoulder. "Let us return to Bonds and take care of our wounds… and hers."

* * *

The whole battle was viewed by Abrellar and the rest through their base. "That's it? They're beaten just like that? !" Gasha Dokuro said in disbelief, "That little runt! Trying to upstage us!"

"Hmm, hmm… interesting." Abrellar said, "This Rio is an extraordinarily powerful one. However something was off."

"It's just like what I felt before." Shibolena added, reminded with her last spotting of Rio, "I think it would be best if we try to be cautious."

"I'll continue to watch over this young lion." Abrellar said, reassuring the rest, "In the meantime, you better come up with some backup plan. If we're lucky, he'll wipe out the Super Sentai while we plan for something to kill him once he's done the deed. This mutiny between the Super Sentai is a chance that must not be missed."

"Very well! I guess I'll just train really hard!" Gasha Dokuro said, walking away, "When he faces me, he will bow down to my might!"

"I'll try come up with some plan, excuse me." Shibolena said as she also moved away, leaving Abrellar to look further at Rio.

* * *

When Mele regained her consciousness, she felt a bit weird. There were lights on her sight, it felt like she's taken into some sort of building. "W… where am I?"

"Ah! You're awake!" Mei's voice was heard as Mele looked at her face. It was full of compassion as she tried putting some hot water on her forehead, "Please don't worry… you're safe now…"

"You…!" Mele didn't even say 'thanks' and instead rolled away from the bed she was on and punched Mei on the face, knocking her down, "Are you trying to hold me hostage? !"

"Please calm down! I don't mean any harm to you…!" Mei tried to calm Mele down, but it did no good as Mele just kicked her down again and started ruining the medical bay, by tossing pretty much everything down.

"This place will never keep me down! Besides, holding me hostage is useless! Because I know Rio-sama won't…" As Mele frantically yelled and wrecked bottles of water, medicine and anything she came across, she suddenly stopped at the mention of Rio. "Rio-sama… won't… aah…" She started sobbing again, continuously remembering on how Rio dumped her, "He… he…" Eventually she dropped on her knees, powerless that the one that drove her, her love for Rio, was completely crushed by the man himself. Tears couldn't stop dropping from her eyes as eventually she buried her face in her two hands and sobbed uncontrollably, "Rio-sama… aaa…. uuu… huuu… Rio-sama….!"

"There, there… it's okay…" Mei tried to calm her down as she hugged Mele and buried her face to her chest. However, Mele couldn't stop crying, but at that point, she didn't give any more damn. She once thought being alive for her was to be at Rio's side, and now that she was betrayed, rejected and tossed away by that very man, she felt completely dead from the inside. Mei, however, never stopped in hugging and comforting her, striking on her hair,"You can share with us… share your story… we won't ridicule you… It's okay…"

"I heard a something breaking." Suddenly, the door opened as Takeru and Chisato entered, "Is there something… oh dear…" On looking at the state of the medical bay, he was silent.

"I think there was some commotion, but it's over…" Chisato noted, "I'll be cleaning this soon."'

"Takeru? How did it go?" Mei asked.

"Hoji and Jiraiya are patching up fine. My Masky Blade is also under repair." Takeru noted, and then he looked at the crying Mele, who didn't even look up to him, "Looks like she's… safe for the moment?"

* * *

Shortly after, Mele did finally calm down and she sat on a table together with Takeru and the rest. "Okay, for starters let's have a bit of introduction. You know me. Aside of me there are these people…"

"Tomasu Hoji."

"Mei."

"Jiraiya."

"Jougasaki Chisato."

"You… just what do you want? Make it quick." Mele said in a grumpy tone.

"How did you get into this world?" Takeru asked, "This is not the same world as was yours. If it was your world, I'd be an old man. This is a weird world combining various timelines. How many years has it been since you helped the Gekirangers?"

"I…" Mele was hesitant to answer. She wasn't in the mood. But at this rate, she lost everything so she didn't care much as she eventually answered, "In order to defeat the Gen-Jyuu Ken master Long, I and Rio-sama requested that I be brought to the world of living once more for a short time to face them with the Gekirangers… and some other group calling themselves Go-Ongers. It was with the cost that we would never go to heaven and forever doomed ourselves into fighting legions of hell for eternity. I didn't mind… as long as I'm with Rio-sama. Time passed, we fought legions after legions that I do not know how long has it been. But all I know that while we fought on a certain legion, there was a quake. I thought it was a normal quake, but when I woke up, I felt like I got out to the normal world, along with Rio-sama…"

"I see… kind of similar to what we experienced." Mei noted as well, "But from your description, it seemed that Rio…"

"That's what I don't know." Mele shook her head, "Ever since we returned from hell, Rio-sama has been acting strange. He would send out unnecessary killings and various pointless, cruel stuffs that he wouldn't even do back then… It's like he completely changed… And now he…" Mele was about to cry again, but she received a tap from her shoulder.

"We understand." Hoji stated, being the one to tap her shoulder, "From the description, it might make sense on why Rio might be acting strange. It's like someone replaced him. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this mystery."

"But I…" Mele was to protest again as she recalled the severe beatings she delivered to Mei and Chisato.

"Nah, it's OK. That's the past." Chisato said to her, "We'll help you."

"… OK. But first, hands off my skin." Mele said a bit coldly, "Only Rio-sama may touch it!" Takeru was impressed hearing Mele's declaration. Despite being betrayed, she remained loyal to this Rio.

In a sudden, the Bonds alarm started to ring. The monitor showed buildings being destroyed as Rio and Dokomo walked, causing those destructions. "He… he's at it again!" Jiraiya stated.

"But if we stay here, more innocents will suffer!" Chisato said, "Takeru, let's get a move on!"

"You guys go ahead first." Takeru said, "I have much to say with Mele."

"Even the five of us wasn't enough to dent him, now you want to…" Hoji protested, but someone tapped his shoulder telling him to stop. It was Mei.

"Don't worry, Hoji. Let's trust Takeru's idea." Mei reassured, "Let's move."

"OK…" Hoji and the rest nodded as they headed for the teleporter, leaving both Takeru and Mele to be the only ones in the room.

"What do you want, still suspicious at me? Afraid I'll wreak your base?" Mele said with a snarky tone, "I'm not gonna. I lost my will to go on."

"Don't stop now, Mele." Takeru said, holding her at the hands, "You should join us."

"What? Are you joking me? ! Hands off!" Mele immediately shoved off her hands, refusing the offer, "Who the hell do you think I am? ! I am your enemy! Besides, I… no longer want to fight if Rio-sama isn't there with me…"

"You can stop now, Mele, but you'll regret it." Takeru said, his tone getting more serious, "What if that wasn't actually Rio but an imposter? Maybe Rio could be somewhere in this world… that's why you can't take your life away if you care about Rio. How will he feel when he finds out you're already dead?" He had to try. He might be risking on a gamble, but perhaps Mele was the prophesized Green Warrior that the 'Seven Colors' implied, even if she wasn't an official member. "I don't care if you're an enemy, but I ask that you trust me and help us. Remember our match before? Your fist was full of energy, it will be a sad one if you discarded and replaced them with despair. That gleam in your fist… don't let it rot."

"I…" Mele couldn't help but think that Takeru was speaking about the truth. She started remembering the real Rio… the one that did genuinely care about her, the one that she truly loved and loved her back, going as far as saving her from Long. If this Rio was an imposter, then it would be a cruel joke and she'll need to have her revenge or else she wouldn't be able to face the Rio that she loved with a straight face. Eventually, after much thinking, she got up, along with Takeru, and she gave her answer.

"Fine, I'll trust and help you for now… Takeru."

* * *

In the meantime, the rest of the team already transformed and fought against Rio and Dokomo. However, Rio alone was enough to overwhelm Deka Blue, Ptera Ranger, Ninja Black and Mega Yellow combined. When they attempted at long range attack with their weapons, Rio merely just used his extreme speed to close in on them and strike them down.

"So this is the power of the past Super Sentai. I can't believe how pathetic you are." Rio taunted further as the four attempted to get up.

"You… bastard…!" Deka Blue cursed as he attempted to get up.

"Can't lose here… but on the other hand… we can't seem to win…!" Mega Yellow was struggling to get up as well, but they were slowly driven into despair as they couldn't seem to win against Rio.

"Exactly. Ringi: Resshuuken!" Approaching the fallen Sentai warriors, Rio unleashed a roundhouse kick that knocked the four of them away before they could react. The amount of despair was absorbed by Dokomo, pleasing him well.

"Ah, Rio-sssssama! You grant me such great dessssspair from thessssse people!" He praised.

"LASER MAGNUM!" There was a yell and several lasers were shot to Rio. However, he only gathered his Rinki, deflecting it away. He saw Red Mask jumping and standing in front of his friends.

"Takeru…!" Ninja Black uttered, looking at their leader.

"Rest for now. I'll take care of him." Red Mask said, assuring his allies.

"But he… is too strong…" Ptera Ranger warned him, but he only nodded, knowing the risk.

"Where's… Mele?" Mega Yellow asked, but for the moment Red Mask kept silent.

"Is that all you can do, Red Mask? Relying on weaponry?" Rio beckoned as he stepped forward, "As I said… your karate is futile against my Rin Jyuu Ken."

"Maybe so. But I am still protecting my friend, with all I got!" Red Mask said as he drew heavily from his Aura Power, "I'll show you… the power of Aura Power!"

"Interesting. I hope this will be more interesting than last time." Rio said as he took his stance, "Come, Red Mask!"

Both Red Mask and Rio engaged in a brutal fight. Compared to the last time, Red Mask was faring far better than before. He was able to at least match up with Rio's strength this time, thanks to tapping more into the Aura Power which could be a match of the Rinki of Rin Jyuu Ken. This made Rio even more frustrated, but that wasn't enough to distract him and made him reveal some openings.

While they fight, however, Rio suddenly felt like he was impaled from behind. "Wha… Heh…! I knew it would be you." Rio commented as he looked behind, seeing that Mele has managed to sneak behind him and impale him with her steel tongue. He was too concentrated with the fight with Red Mask and his Aura Power was enough to give him frustration to distract him from Mele's invisibility. "You dare stab me like this… Mele? To your Rio…"

"Don't you call his name. You have no right for it." Mele coldly said as she retracted her tongue, leaving Rio to stagger. Along with Mele, Red Mask's other allies gathered near him, as Mele herself continued "You can't be Rio-sama. You are far different, with needless destructions like this, even if it was for the power of Rin Jyuu Ken, this is too much even for Rio-sama. I have been a fool to follow you around without questioning ever since we came here… How dare you defile Rio-sama's image with such ridicule… Show yourself, imposter!"

"Heh heh heh ha ha ha! So it was only now you realize this, hm, my dear Mele?" Rio suddenly laughed as suddenly golden aura started to surround him, "I suppose my play time is over."

"And that is why you are not Rio-sama! He never refers me like that!" Mele retorted, until she spotted the golden aura, "This…!" At that moment, Rio suddenly vanished. And in place of him was a blonde man drapped in golden armor, with a smug face planted at his face, "Long…! You…!"

"How do you do… Super Sentai? I hope you enjoyed that dance a bit." Long greeted, "Maybe you are no Gekiranger. But I suppose killing you all will be much fun."

"Long…? So you're… the enemy of the Gekirangers, aren't you? !" Red Mask said.

"Indeed. But you know, I won't be satisfied if it's just the Gekiranger that I destroy. All the Super Sentai… they deserve to die for slighting me a little." Long said further.

"What…? ! Who do you think you are!" Deka Blue said in anger.

"Oh, you should know your place, mortals…" Long, still keeping his smug face, "I am an ancient being that have watched over you humans for a long time. It is my right to decide what you will do. So if I say 'die for me', then you should die."

"Someone playing God…!" Ninja Black said angrily, "You're no better than those of the Youkai corps…!"

"Think all you want, but that's what it's gonna be. But I think that'd be enough greeting. I have other business to attend" Long said as he turned his back, "Also, Mele… I wish I could see your face back then, when you felt so crushed that your Rio betrayed you. It's a small delight, but it's still one."

"You made me temporarily lose my will to life… humiliated me as such using Rio-sama's face… Long… you… BASTARD!" Mele yelled as she attempted to strike at Long with her sai. However at that time, it was Dokomo who blocked her with his fist, "Dokomo, get out of my way! Attack him, if you want to fight for Rio-sama's sake!"

"Too bad for you, but I can't have that, Mele." Dokomo said as she deflected her sai with his hand-chains, and kicked her away, "Becaussssse now we Rin Jyuu Ken usssserssss pledge our loyalty to Master Long, not Rio! And I am not alone. A lot of Rin Jyuu Ken users here have ssssswitched their allegiance assss well. If I wanna count who's ssssstill loyal to Rio, I can probably count it with my fingersssss."

"You rotten little traitor…!" Mele said angrily, but at that point, Red Mask stepped in front of her.

"One look at Long is enough to tell me that he must be stopped." Red Mask exclaimed, "If you insist of protecting him, then prepare to be destroyed!" For the moment, Mele felt something similar like before… when she fought Long the last time with the Go-Ongers. For that, she was standing next to Red Mask, ready to fight for what she believed in… Rio.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"We are…!" As Red Mask said that, only Mele didn't say the word, as she still contained enough haughtiness to refuse saying such thing in unison, especially with a bunch of people she didn't know enough, "**SUPER SENTAI!**"

"Did you think I am the only one who defected? !" Dokomo said furiously as he snapped his finger. And out from nowhere came a lot of normal Rinshi.

"Oh wow, Chinese ghosts!" Mega Yellow exclaimed, "Or Jiangshi, in other words. So this is what the Gekirangers fought… And… you used to control them?" She looked at Mele who just rushed forward.

"Less talk, more fighting!" She exclaimed as she delivered a flying knee to one of the Rinrinshi. This was the first time she ever raised her fist, legs or whatever to her brethrens. However, for her, if they did not serve Rio, they were no longer her brethren, as far as she's concerned.

"We should not fall behind. Come on!" As Red Mask rallied, the rest of the team also joined in the fight and this time they were performing better than before.

"Why you little…!" Dokomo said as he leapt towards the team and fought in close range against the team. Eventually, when opportunity arose, he prepared something, "Rin Jyuu Komodo Ken Ringi: Kibahagane!" Rather than unleashing his chains, he instead thrusted his hand forward to his nearest targets, Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow… in which he was aiming at their chests.

"Ack! Pervert!" Ptera Ranger yelled, slapping on his head, "Get your hand off my chest!"

"Is this all you Rin Jyuu Ken users are? ! School of Perverts!" Mega Yellow said, also slapping his head.

"Hey! They're not all perverts! You think I didn't take notes on all the Rin Jyuu Ken students? !" Mele protested, infuriated that her style was thought to be a perverted style, "Though I guess there are some exceptions…"

"Sssssay things about perversssion all you like. But let me make it clear…" Dokomo said as his eyes gleamed, "Once I bite, I don't let go!"

At that moment, his grip tightened that it didn't feel like a light squeezing, but felt like crushing their chests with every of his might. The 'light attitude' shifted as eventually Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow were instead screaming in pain.

"AAAAGGGHHH!"

"_God damn it!_" Deka Blue said as he prepared his D-Sniper, while Ninja Black also prepared his Black Bow. "Hands off them!"

"Aim for the head!" Ninja Black said, "That would definitely disrupt him!"

"Got it!" As Deka Blue confirmed, they both shot down their weapons to Dokomo's head from behind. However, they didn't affect him much and his grip was instead tightened.

"You can't disssstract me with that! Now, I will claim my firsssst victim!" Dokomo said as he lifted both Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow with his hands.

"Aah…! There has to be one place that's… unprotected…!" Mega Yellow said as she prepared her Mega Sling… "OK, I think I got it…! Mei, are you thinking what I'm thinking…? !"

"Y… yes…!" Ptera Ranger nodded as she also prepared her Ptera Arrow.

"It's usssselesssss! You cannot… wha? !" Dokomo said triumphantly, until he realized one thing… they were aiming at the eyes. "N-not the eye!" But he's too late. Both ladies shot down his eyes, his one weakness. It caused him to let go of the grip while he staggered, holding his eyes.

"Guess that's all you can do, Dokomo… you're pathetic…" Mele said as she approached him. She's preparing to execute him.

"You'll be eating your wordsss ssssoon… Mele…!" He suddenly unleashed his chains and their jaws trying to bite on Mele. However, she retaliated quick enough and had the jaws bite her sais instead. "Thissss issss it! You will be crippled now! I will destroy…"

"My weapons? These?" Mele beckoned even if she was still holding a tight grip on the weapon, "Hah! Are you an idiot? ! Basic rule of martial arts, any of body parts is a weapon! Or don't tell me you forget! But regardless…" As Mele said that she began gathering energy from her sai as a ball of energy formed from it, "Rin Jyuu Chameleon Ken Ringi: Rakugekiken!"

The ball of energy launched, destroying the chains into pieces, before impacting and knocking Dokomo away. "Wow, way to go, Mele!" Red Mask and the rest approached Mele and gave her praise. For some reason Mele felt a bit awkward.

"Heh! It's natural of course." Mele haughtily said. As far as she's concerned, while these Sentai seemed to mean well… she had something else in her mind 'Their praises are nothing compared to praises by Rio-sama!' They couldn't see her face now, but if they could, they would've seen Mele smiling giddily like a cheerful child yearning for Rio's praise. 'Ah, Rio-sama…'

"You basssstardssss!" Dokomo suddenly got back up as he prepared another stance, "I'll crusssh you all!" He then started moving his hands in circular motion before moving it down. "Ringi: Jashin Gouten Hen!"

…

…

…

And nothing happened.

"What… what the hell happened? !" Dokomo said, in panic, "Jashin Gouten Hen!" He tried the Ringi again. And it produced no result at all.

"Huh?" Even Mele was confused at that, "That was supposed to make him go large!"

"That's what's strange in the world. It's like we cannot have gigantic battles again. Otherwise we'd be unleashing our robots." Red Mask explained as he ended up cracking his knuckles, "No matter! Now it's our turn."

"Hiii…" It was Dokomo's turn to panic now as he couldn't turn into a giant.

"It's the eye, right? Fine." Deka Blue said as he prepared his D-Sniper, "I never miss." He then shot twice, both hitting bullseye on Dokomo's eyes. While Dokomo was staggered, Ninja Black has snuck behind Dokomo and grabbed him from behind and leapt upwards.

"Ninpo: Izuna Otoshi!" Ninja Black yelled, but in the same time as he dove, he also called, "Takeru, now!"

"OK! God Hand…!" Red Mask said as he prepared his God Hand. But rather than going for a straight, he swung his hand upwards, straight to Dokomo's head while he jumped, "UPPER!" The punch was so powerful that it ripped Dokomo in two before he exploded. Before that could happen, however, both Red Mask and Ninja Black jumped away to safety and landed.

"Great job. With this case complete!" Deka Blue complimented. He then approached the wounded girls as he offered his hands, "Mei, Chisato, you two okay?"

"It hurts like hell… but we're fine, I guess…" Mega Yellow said as she took Deka Blue's hand to get up, together with Ptera Ranger.

Everyone eventually de-morphed as they gathered; now looking at Mele. "So… what will you do now, Mele?" Takeru asked, approaching her.

"Heh… at least I do have one purpose in this world now." Mele said, still aloof like usual, "I need to hunt down those traitors who worships the ground that Long walks and punish them myself. Otherwise… I won't be able to look at Rio-sama's face again…"

"This Long seems like a dangerous person, and definitely despicable." Mei said, also approaching her, "Mele, why don't we fight together?"

"Fight together? Ha!" Mele suddenly turned to them and her face was quite smug at them, "I can't stand you all, I can do this myself! Who needs help from the likes of you? This is something I gotta do myself, you'll just slow me down."

"Why you ungrateful…!" Hoji was riled up and nearly tried to strike her, only to be stopped by Jiraiya.

"Calm down a bit!" Jiraiya said, although from his voice, it was clear that he's pissed off and merely holding off his anger.

"But didn't we fought together just before? That wasn't enough for you?" Chisato asked once more.

"Don't get me wrong, I just fought to get back at him. I am not interested in being goody-goody like you all." Mele retorted, "Remember that the essence of Rin Jyuu Ken is that we draw power from despair and suffering of people!"

"Mele…" Mei said in concern, "I don't think that was the case…"

"It's her decision. But we had fun fighting alongside you, Mele. I hope you will come back." Takeru said, smiling, "Just remember one thing. You were pretty powerful back then when you were fighting at the tournament. I think that was your true strength, honest and full of spirit. Even if you do not use the despair of humans, you're still powerful. Think about it carefully… We'll be seeing you again." As Takeru said that, he gestured to the rest so they left, leaving Mele to wonder what Takeru just said.

"I'm never coming back! Good riddance!" Mele said in a slightly venomous but childish tone as she turned away and walked off. However, even Takeru's words heavily weighed on her mind and she couldn't help but admit… she did have fun in the previous fight. Besides, it was because of Takeru's advice that she found her purpose again and not fall into her own despair. In her lowest voice she could muster, she then whispered, "Thank you… Takeru…"

* * *

As the main team were walking together, Hoji asked Takeru on his decision, "You sure about this, Takeru? So that wasn't…"

"No I think it's her." Takeru said in confidence, "She'll be back, I'm sure. I believe in her."

"You know that wasn't the only green candidate for the color, you know." Hoji continued, "Even the Gekiranger has a white colored member as far as the book told us. Perhaps you want us to search for this SCRTC?"

"Oh you can go ahead and try, their help will be most appreciated." Takeru said, agreeing with the plan. However, he still held his beliefs, "But I believe Mele will eventually return. Who knows… if I'm going to be right or not."

"You're hopeless." Hoji commented as they continued to walk.

Would Mele be actually the sixth warrior for the team? Could the team and her come to terms with her history? It seems that the team would increase, but would that bring chaos or fortune? Regardless of what future may bring, giving up is not an option if they want to survive the era and get back home. Fight! Good luck, Super Sentai!

* * *

And meanwhile… Abrellar's base was in a mess. Long decided to pay a visit to the place and trashed the whole place. Kiros, Lamie, Gasha Dokuro and Shibolena, all of them fell to the might of Long, even though they're not dead. Abrellar himself was in the mercy of Long as he held the Alienizer's neck on his hand. "You… Long of the Gen Jyuu Ken!" Abrellar cursed while coughing inbetween.

"This is all you got, Alienizer? You're pathetic." Long said cockily, "And I guess this is also all that Tube Empire, Bandora's Gang, Youkai Corps and Nejirejia Kingdom can offer. You all look so hopeless."

"Bastard…!" Kiros growled as he attempted to get up, but while Long was still holding Abrellar on his hand, he moved quickly and stomped Kiros' head, planting his foot to the ground.

"Oops, saw that coming in about one millisecond." Long boasted and taunted.

"Don't you dare underestimate us you interloper!" Gasha Dokuro yelled and was about to strike Long with his sword, but he was kicked to the wall, all while Long still planting his other foot to Kiros' head.

"All show. Boring show at that." Long also taunted the skull Youkai.

"Get out of here, we don't need you!" Lamie and Shibolena said in unison as they raised their sword and stick respectively, launching energy bolts to Long. However, with just a wave of his hand, a force of wind blew and attacked the ladies, putting them in subjugation.

"'Don't need'? Oh but you need me? In fact, I am here for a proposition." Long said cockily, "I want to take over this place and you will accept me as your leader."

"Don't be silly…!" Abrellar protested, "You may be calling yourself God amongst humans… but we are not humans…!"

"Oh, does it matter?" Long said, closing his head to Abrellar's, "All your efforts to destroy the Super Sentai were in vain. You're hopeless without me. But if you accept me as your leader… then we could be making a progress in their destruction. So… what do you say?"

"In your dreams, little boy…!" Abrellar defiantly said, but Long merely just choked him harder, "GACK!"

"You'd be wise not to refer me as such, as I have existed for millennia." Long gave out a sinister warning, "And if you do not accept me, then I'll just have to kill you all right here right now. But if you live, I may share to you… your joy for the destruction of the Super Sentai. Would you rather let that goal go unfulfilled in vain? Come now, being my servant isn't all that bad. So… last chance… serve me… or die?"

There was a bit silence, until eventually Abrellar opened his mouth and said, "… Deal."

"Oh very good." Long said as he dropped Abrellar to the ground and took a nearby chair, "Then from this point on, I shall be your leader. You can begin by standing in front of me… and bowing your head."

The villains had no choice but to obey. Long was too powerful. "Tch… damn it, old bat. Are you really gonna be bowing your head like an idiot like this? !" Kiros whispered.

"We're just bidding our time. If the time comes…" Abrellar reassured the team as they continued to bow.

"You better not be lying…" Lamie added as well.

'Heh heh, they can't stand me.' Contrary to what they thought, Long could hear their whispers. However, he decided to play along. 'Well it's fine. Any attempts of rebellions… I can quell it easily. Soon… soon I will have my fun…!' Looking at the world outside, Long was ready. The team has gotten themselves a bigger problem at hand.

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

Author's note: That's the end of the chapter and yes... the surprise character is actually Mele from Gekiranger! At least she appeared as 'extra ranger' in Gokaiger, so yes, she's eligible. But on the other hand, Long has joined the enemy ranks and usurped Abrellar's place as the leader. The team's in trouble now. But will Mele return as Takeru trusted?

Well you can only hope and wait until the next chapter... until then, keep the reviews coming! Toodles!


	13. Symphony of Chameleon and Phoenix

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note:** My god, the Writer Block is a bit heavy. I hope this chapter is satisfactory as I kinda feel weak... Enjoy!**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 13: Symphony of Chameleon and Phoenix  
**

* * *

For several days, Mele had been wandering alone. Her life belonged to Rio, the real Rio, not them, thus she saw no purpose in sticking around with Takeru and the rest. 'Okay now what do I do? Maybe I should find more information about Rio-sama.'

The nearest town for her to gather information was the very town where the Super Sentai resided… the Megalopolis. After several hours of wandering, Mele felt a little hesitant. 'What is wrong with me? I'd usually…' In her mind, she was imagining something she'd do in the past: wreck the town using her Rin Jyuu Ken and demanded information, all while laughing in an eerie way. But for some reason, when she returned to reality, she found herself unable to pull it off. 'What is this…! Rin Jyuu Ken is supposed to feed on people's suffering! Or perhaps…'

She remembered several things that happened shortly after her 'death' by Long. Apparently, the Gekirangers managed to unite both Geki Jyuu Ken and Rin Jyuu Ken with one move taught by Kensei Maku himself. 'Is that so…' Mele wondered, 'Maybe after that, Rin Jyuu Ken no longer needed to feed off sufferings anymore… Bah, no matter how they feed, it's no business of me. About Rio-sama…'

And speaking of 'feed', suddenly something felt weird on Mele. Her stomach was making up sounds, 'What? ! Why now? !' Mele was embarrassed on such happening. But she usually didn't need to eat or anything. She was a Rinshi after all. Was it a price for a 'human-like' body that Rio gave her?

True to her chameleon nature, as she heard a buzzing sound of a fly, her instinct acted up. 'Well at least this one's not Bae…' Mele thought as she tried to look at the fly using her sharp eye. Once it's locked on, she stuck her tongue… which immediately elongated and got to the fly, and she quickly retracted it before anyone could see it. She tried munching the fly… and suddenly… "Pfaugh!" Mele choked and spat the fly away. She only came up with this one conclusion, 'Damn it, earth living flies stunk so bad it's not even edible! At least the flies in Rin Jyuu Den didn't stink this much!'

Then, her human body started to act up for her. Her nose started smelling something good and when Mele looked at the source, she looked at a small restaurant, with people eating. Mele just looked at them, eating peacefully. 'Hm… should I steal from them? … No, I shouldn't. As Rio-sama's love, I should not lower myself to such pettiness!' With that, Mele left the restaurant alone.

She walked for hours, merely looking around and holding her stomach. "My body feels weak… Ugh… food…" Mele muttered, holding her stomach as she walked until…

"_Hey._" Someone handed her a food. A crepe to be exact, "Here, eat up."

"This is…" Mele looked at the crepe which was shown to her face. She grabbed it and started eating. The crepe was filled with cream and milk and several fruits. It was refreshing. "Wow… this is good, for human foods." Mele commented after she took a bite. But when she looked above, she saw the one who gave her the crepe… Jiraiya. "You…!"

"Yo, Mele." Jiraiya greeted. But at that point, Mele just dropped the crepe on purpose. However, Jiraiya was quick enough to hold that fallen crepe before it touched the ground, "That was dangerous!"

"What do you want with it? Bribery?" Mele asked in annoyance, "No bribes are going to sway my love to Rio-sama! Even if I'm hungry!"

"Uh… who said anything about bribes?" Jiraiya asked back, stunning Mele with such question. She could really sense honesty in Jiraiya's words, similar to the honesty she heard constantly and also belittled towards the Gekiranger. But for some reason, she had no mood to belittle them. "I just thought that you're hungry, so I'm giving you food. Here." As Jiraiya said that, he handed down the crepe to Mele's hand, "I still can make more if you want!"

"Why…" Mele wondered as she just sat down. She continued to eat, sitting next to a stand of crepe which Jiraiya ran while he made some more. "I'm your enemy, remember?"

"I don't think like that. Surely, the rest would also think like me." Jiraiya said as he prepared to create another crepe, "After all, you did help another Sentai team, even if you were antagonizing them before. Why should we not call you ally?"

"I…" Mele was unable to give a retort as she continued to eat. She felt like unable to come up with some witty remark.

"You know, you remind me of a good Youkai." Jiraiya, while cooking his crepe, began to tell a story, "I, as a Kakuranger, have been fighting the Youkai Corps. Amongst them is one called Zashiki-Warashi."

"Oh?" Mele was slightly interested as she put her attention to Jiraiya's story, "And this Zashiki-Warashi… how is he good if he's a Youkai?"

"He befriended children. And me." Jiraiya continued, "But unfortunately he was killed after getting his goodness back. He may die, but he died a good boy. It was… very unfortunate, but I'll never forget him. And it would be unfortunate if you would suffer the same fate, Mele." At those words, Mele was silent. Someone aside of Rio, worrying about her dying? "I've… read stuffs about your history. And from that, I know that your love for Rio is pure and not twisted. That can't make you evil. Besides, you even questioned the fake Rio's ridiculous orders, even if you hadn't got the power to resist it. That speaks a lot about your goodness, and I vouch for it. I'm sure that everyone will agree that you're good and they'll accept you the way you are."

How Mele wanted to sock Jiraiya on the face with her fist and stomp her for saying that she has a goodness within her. But for some reason, she couldn't make a comeback about it. Instead she just continued to eat. And around that time, Jiraiya was done with another crepe and gave it to Mele. "Here, a second?" Silently, Mele just took the food and ate further, as Jiraiya looked at her, "How does it taste?"

"… Not too bad." Mele said, honestly. In normal times, she would've said on how much it sucked just to spite on him. But now, once again, she felt her mood crushed.

'These people are so naïve. Me? Goodness? They've got to be kidding. But why does it feel… a little nice?' Mele was in a hard thought as she continued to munch her food. Most humans wouldn't treat her like one. It was justified, after all. She's a walking corpse. But Jiraiya felt a bit different. Just like Takeru, it seemed that he honestly had the best intention for her. Mele wasn't sure how to feel it, but… she felt relieved.

* * *

And of course such thing was not to escape the sight of the bad guys. In particular, Long was intently watching with the telescope that was once used by Bandora to observe the Earth. It was one of the first times he's used that, but thanks to coaxing Abrellar and Lamie to show him how to use it, he quickly became adapt. "Enjoying your calm, hmm, Mele?" Long commented sinisterly, "Too bad I don't like such calm. I'd like to spice things up."

"I brought him in." In a sudden, Shibolena arrived, bringing forth a Nejire Beast shaped like a peacock, "This is Peacock Nejire. Are you planning to send him in?"

"Oh, not really. In fact, I'd like to show something." As Long said that, he raised his hand. His ki power was enough to bring down the Peacock Nejire and kept him in the ground, "Please… call everyone in."

Shortly after, the villains all gathered in front of Long, who went through stomping Peacock Nejire. Shibolena was extremely cross about it, in concern of her Nejire beast, "You…! Don't you dare…!" But before she was able to continue, Long merely swung his hand a little and Shibolena was knocked away to the wall, all while he stomped the Peacock Nejire even harder, causing it to caw in pain.

"Shibolena…!" Lamie was the first to help her get up and also looked at Long with annoyance in her eyes. "You… creep!" She could now understand, inheriting Bandora's care for her own monsters. Shibolena must've been feeling the same in regards of the Nejire Beasts.

"I appreciate that you do not disturb this show. I'm going to show you… how 'evolution' works." Long said as he stomped on Peacock Nejire even further. It caused the Nejire Beast to eventually get its feathers spread… in which Long immediately tore one of its massive feathers. And yet another caw of pain occurred from the beast, and for once Shibolena had to bit her lips as she felt powerless seeing her monster brutalized like that.

"Whatever your plan is, this has better be worth it!" Shibolena cried out, "He… he didn't deserve this…"

"You'll be thanking me in the end, I guarantee you." Long assured her as he imbued the torn feather with his Gengi, his golden aura. Once that was done, he put the feather back to the Peacock Nejire, and removed his feet.

"That's… it? Nothing happens." Kiros commented, looking at the Nejire Beast, "What does that feather do? Evolution? Are you joking?"

"Oh no no no." Long shook his head playfully as he smirked looking at the Peacock Nejire slowly getting up, "The show has just begun."

In a sudden, the Peacock Nejire suddenly started screaming, or cawing, in pain as flames started to cover its body. It was running around frantically, trying to douse the flames, but it was no use. Shibolena was getting even angrier seeing this, but Lamie managed to hold her off just so she didn't do anything stupid. But in the end… the flames didn't get doused off, but instead it stuck with the Peacock Nejire, as if creating a brand new beast within.

"Now… behold. The Peacock has evolved into a Phoenix!" Long exclaimed proudly, "It was a very good thing I kept Mele's discarded Genki to form this…"

"Hm… if it is evolved, then probably it is fitting that a new name is given." Abrellar commented, looking at the beast, which now looked more like a Phoenix than a Peacock, "Obviously, you would call it… 'Phoenix Nejire'. If that's OK with you?" He then gave a look to Shibolena. Her anger slightly subsided and she just nodded, not even interested in giving her voice.

"Discarded 'Genki'? The hell does that mean?" Gasha Dokuro asked, confused with what Long said.

"Ah that." Long started to recall his latest battle against the Gekirangers, "Well, last time… I managed to turn Mele into one of my generals. She took up the disciple of Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Fist, but she threw it away. I merely used her essences to create this new beast. Not only it has the power of a Nejire Beast as Shibolena described, it will also be adept with the Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Fist. I'd like to make Mele know her place for leaving that abruptly."

"All right, that's done with." Shibolena said as she approached the beast now known as Phoenix Nejire, "Come with me. I'd like to analyze your abilities further to defeat the Sentai…" But as she said that, the Phoenix Nejire just leapt and launched a flying kick that hit Shibolena right on the face and knocked her down, "What? !"

"One more thing, Shibolena… this is basically my underling now, not yours. It doesn't need any analysis." Long claimed, causing her to grit her teeth in annoyance, while he turned towards the Phoenix Nejire "Just go down there and beat down Mele… and the Super Sentai if you would."

"Hey, Long." Gasha Dokuro suddenly said, approaching Long, "You know, I feel a bit rusty. Mind if I accompany this beast? I'd like to fight."

"Hm… yes, indeed. From your look, I know you're itching for one. Very well." Long nodded, giving his approval.

And as Gasha Dokuro and Phoenix Nejire started walking away to transport to Earth, Shibolena couldn't even get up on her feet and was thoroughly disgusted, unable to stop her teeth to grit. If she was a decent human being, she would've cried, but she couldn't. 'Long, you thief…! Compared to you, Guirail seemed like a cute little baby!'

However, when Gasha Dokuro was near Abrellar, the Alienizer instead tapped his shoulder. "Use this chance." Abrellar said.

"Got it." Gasha Dokuro nodded, knowing that if he's out of the base, he'll have more time to think on how to eventually overthrow Long. Such act didn't escape Long's sight, but he just smiled alone.

* * *

In the meantime, Hoji and Chisato were sent away from Bonds for a mission. They arrived at a building… The SCRTC building, where the Gekirangers used to reside. "S-C-R-T-C…" Chisato muttered the alphabets of the organization name.

"Spelled '_Scratch_', according to the database." Hoji corrected, "It's a sports goods-selling company. But in truth, it also doubles as a martial arts school."

"Scratch? Imaginative way to nickname one organization." Chisato commented, "Regardless, we're gonna meet a Gekiranger here, right?"

"If we're lucky. Either them, or the head executive… Masaki Miki." Hoji said. However, he wasn't even sure if it was going to work. Before they headed here, contacts from Bonds were met with no response. It was exactly why Takeru and Mei stayed behind, they were trying to form a communication, although thus far, it was without avail. "Excuse me…" As they arrived at the main hall, Hoji attempted to knock the door a bit… and found out that the door wasn't even locked.

"Big building, and it seems that everything's gone." Chisato said. However, she suddenly remembered something, "Say… Hoji, you were the only Dekaranger here, just like I am the only Megaranger here, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Maybe…" Chisato wondered, slightly fearing, "Maybe this world has no Gekirangers, which is why nobody's here… Which means… we're stuck with just Mele? !"

"You never know till you try. Let's start searching." Hoji brushed off such comment and began to conduct the search along with Chisato, splitting up. Both did have their own reservation about Mele. Even if she helped them and the Gekirangers in the past, her attitude wasn't a good one that they're not sure they could accept her as an ally. Takeru and Mei seemed to trust her, however, so they want more concrete proofs.

Chisato soon entered a room, which was seemingly empty. It seemed filled with several girly stuffs and the room seemed to have yellow motifs. "Nobody's here either…" Chisato commented. She attempted to leave, but a photo caught her interest. "Let's see…" Chisato took the portrait and gave a look… it was a photo which consisted of several children and two young teens… one was a woman wearing yellow, and the other one is a man wearing blue.

These were in fact both Uzaki Ran and Fukami Retsu, both Geki Yellow and Geki Blue respectively. But they were only in a normal portrait, the real things were nowhere in sight. Chisato just sighed as she put the portrait back, "That's a nice photo, but I hoped the real people would be here…"

But another thing caught her interest when she spotted something in the same table where the photo was put on. It was a letter. Chisato picked it up and read it…

"_Dear Mother, how have you been? I'm fine. It's been several months after the last time I wrote for you. Everyone's doing their own activities. Me? Retsu and I are still training children about Jyuu-Ken in SCRTC. I feel that it is my calling. Ken has also been helping a lot, although I hoped he'd be more serious in his duties. Gou left for another journey just recently, saying that he has yet to master his wolf side… Oh and Jan is also teaching with us, although he prefers to teach outside… That's impressive, actually, Mom. He's grown a lot… whoa, I spoke a lot about my friends, didn't I? Although, I'd like to tell you some other people I'd consider friends as well…_

_Rio and Mele. They're actually not so bad. I knew that before I considered them friends, I was skeptical to them. I was unable to forget the crimes they did to humanity. But after seeing Mele sacrifice herself for us, followed by Rio… and even risked their well being in the afterlife just to help us, well they wouldn't admit it freely but I just knew, I realized that I might've judged them wrongly. I wonder what would happen if I and Retsu weren't so unforgiving back then. We might've been friends. Sometimes, I wish I could go hang out like a normal girl with Mele, I'm sure despite her aloof attitude, she's just like me, a normal girl. The fact that she was also willing to sacrifice herself for others must've meant a lot. Of course, the same to Rio… But I don't want to keep looking to the past. I'll have to consider that those who died from their past atrocity would be at peace now, as they've repented._

_I'll write more when I have time, Mother. Anytime I find a new friend, I will let you know._

_Much love,_

_Uzaki Ran (or Geki Yellow, if you feel like it)"_

As she finished reading the letter, Chisato started rethinking of what have happened thus far, especially about Mele. It seemed that Takeru was right about her, there's definitely something worth accepting her. Even the Gekirangers, in this case Ran, seemed to have deep down approved her. However, she still kind of doubted a bit. "Mele… just what is your true face?"

Shortly after she got out, Hoji approached her with a slight disappointment, "I found none of the Gekirangers… and we have to postpone this search for now. Takeru called."

"Is it an attack or something?" Chisato asked, curious.

"Probably. Come on." As Hoji said that, Chisato nodded and both ran off leaving the SCRTC building together.

* * *

"**SUPER HENGE!**" In a sudden, Jiraiya noticed something weird approaching and instantly abandon his crepe cooking, transformed and blocked off an attack that was meant to be directed at Mele, in form of the Phoenix Nejire launching several kicks. For each kicks, Ninja Black had to block it with his Kakuremaru and it ended up pushing him backwards a little.

"Hey those are pretty good moves." Mele said as she got up. However, on recalling the kicks, she was shocked, "Those… I think I used to throw those kicks before…!"

"Of course it is… Long told me." Suddenly, a voice was heard. It was Gasha Dokuro, who approached Mele from the other direction, "Though you probably have discarded it, so you considered it useless. But in the hand of the Phoenix Nejire… it's much more used."

"Who the hell are you?" Mele asked back, not even recognizing Gasha Dokuro, "And you know Long? I don't recall a style like Rin-Jyuu Skeleton Fist."

"_Damn it_, Gasha Dokuro! What timing…!" Ninja Black said, but this caused him to let down his guard and Phoenix Nejire instead flapped its wing, immediately knocking Ninja Black away.

"You will have your time later, Kakuranger. But first…!" As Gasha Dokuro said that, he drew his sword, "Rin Jyuu Chameleon Fist Mistress… Mele! My blade will tear through traitors to the concept of evil like you!"

"Evil? Since when have I aligned myself with such thing? If you always need to be reminded on who I'm aligned with, then fine." Mele said as she walked forward, "I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_" As she said the last two words, without any call words, she immediately transformed to her Chameleon form. "Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!" In instant, she drew both of her sais and dashed to attack Gasha Dokuro.

In the meantime, Ninja Black continued to fight against the Phoenix Nejire. Reading its movement well enough, eventually he came out on the top and prepared the finisher. "I'll beat you before the rest comes! **Kakure-Ryuu Nagareboshi!**"

Slashing the beast with a star motion, Ninja Black knocked the Phoenix Nejire away. However, true to its namesake, along with the machinations of Nejirejia Kingdom as well as Long's essence, the Phoenix Nejire came back to life. "_What!_" Ninja Black was shocked looking at it, and it was about to strike again… until several shots were struck to it, revealing that the team has arrived to help.

"Jiraiya! You OK? !" Red Mask asked, approaching Ninja Black.

"Yeah, but careful! This monster can't seem to stay dead!" Ninja Black warned.

"Eh? Fire bird?" Ptera Ranger noted, looking at the Phoenix Nejire, "Hm… I don't think Bandora ever unleashed something like 'Dora Phoenix'…"

"I know those patterns. Must've been a Nejire Beast." Mega Yellow noted, "Though it is a bit off… but let's just say it's called 'Phoenix Nejire'. Now it makes sense… a Phoenix is an immortal bird!"

"Maybe, but that's not going to stop us." Deka Blue reassured, "He must've gotten a weak spot somewhere. We just have to find it."

"Oh yeah? !" Gasha Dokuro apparently heard that, and with that he deflected Mele and just as he landed, he turned his sword into the electric guitar that his human form used to wield and pulled its string several times, causing sonic waves to hit the whole team. In return, however, Mele was able to launch a flying kick to his head, knocking him away.

"You're distracted that easily? ! And you call yourself… powerful?" Mele taunted as she prepared her stance once more. However, Gasha Dokuro just got up and snapped his finger. In turn, a lot of Dorodoros and Kunekune soldiers appeared.

"I prefer that there are no interruptions. Come, Phoenix Nejire!" As Gasha Dokuro yelled, the Phoenix Nejire leapt and stood by his side, facing Mele. However, he also raised his hand forward and the soldiers started attacking Red Mask and the rest… followed by Gasha Dokuro himself.

"No interruptions, or you're just too cowardly to fight me? !" Mele shouted and tried to chase him, but the Phoenix Nejire barred her path. "Huh… fine. You'll do."

Mele began fighting the Phoenix Nejire. However, something weird started to happen around her. It was definitely the moves she used while being the mistress of Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Fist. However, the Phoenix Nejire started to overwhelm her. 'What is this…? ! Me, losing…? !' Mele thought as she ended up being beaten up. 'This is different than any Rinshi after all…' Indeed, as the Phoenix Nejire were mostly Nejire Beast, the unfamiliarity of how it fought and operated were all green to Mele. The accuracy of the Phoenix Nejire were all calculated from its body that it was able to deflect most of her attacks and counter it with the Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Fist moves she used to utilize in the past.

'This… this can't be…! Am I not strong enough? ! How am I going to fulfill my mission and face Rio-sama like this…!'

In the meantime, however, while the rest of the team fought the soldiers, Gasha Dokuro engaged in a sword fight with Ninja Black. "The last lucky shot won't happen again, Kakuranger! You'll see the extent of my power!"

"S… shut up!" Ninja Black said as he tossed a smoke bomb right on his feet and engulfed Gasha Dokuro with smokes. When the smoke cleared, Ninja Black was gone, but Gasha Dokuro wasn't fooled. He immediately stabbed the ground, causing it to erupt and Ninja Black had to leap out. The skull opened its mouth and blasted him with evil energy, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Jiraiya!" The rest of the team reacted and rushed to his side.

"Super Sentai. No matter from what teams you come from… you'll never beat me!" Gasha Dokuro boasted as he ran forward, concentrating and with his sword swings took down Red Mask, Deka Blue, Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow. As he saw the team on the ground, he approached them, "Now one of you will die in flames."

He walked forward and grabbed someone on the head… Mega Yellow. "N… no…!" Ninja Black was the first to get up and started calling, "Chisato!" He was ready with his Black Bow and was looking for a chance to shoot him. But Gasha Dokuro instead held her on the neck, pointing his sword to the head.

"She either dies by my blade or in flames! Which will it be? !" Gasha Dokuro threatened.

"I don't know if you can produce flames or whatever, I've never seen you doing so, but…!" Red Mask said as he also got up, "Neither choices will be picked! LASER ARROW!" Red Mask was preparing to shoot his beam sword, but…

"There is no third option!" Before the beam could be shot, Gasha Dokuro tossed Mega Yellow straight to the Phoenix Nejire, "Here's your nemesis, Nejire Beast! Roast her!"

As such, Phoenix Nejire then spread its wings, shooting out a jet of flame headed straight to Mega Yellow, who's airborne.

"AAAHH!"

"No…! Chisato!" Ptera Ranger could only call her name, as she was still on the ground and unable to help. The flames did engulf her, but Mega Yellow could see a shadow jumping towards her…

And when she fell down, she didn't feel so much pain or burns. "Huh…? This is…" She was still on suit, such direct damage could've un-transformed her. However, when she got back up, she saw exactly who the shadow was.

Mele. Untransformed and heavily wounded.

"Oh my God! Mele!" Mega Yellow screamed as she got near her, trying to wake her up, "What were you doing? ! Please, get a hold of yourself!"

"S… shut up…" Mele said slowly, "M… my body… moved itself…"

"Damn it, so you got protected. You won't be so lucky now…" Gasha Dokuro said, approaching him with his sword ready. However, at that point there was a loud caw. The Phoenix Nejire was in pain, as if its weak spot was found. "What now…? !" However while he turned back, he heard a gunshot and his back shoulder was stung with pain. It turned out that Deka Blue already took a crawling sniping position and shot him while he looked back. And not only that, not just one, but three arrows were stuck on his back, courtesy of Ptera Ranger. "Grr…! You won't be so lucky… next time!" As Gasha Dokuro said that, he approached the Phoenix Nejire, held it and vanished together.

Eventually the team got up, and gathered together… with the exception of Red Mask. "How did it… I thought it was supposed to be immortal." Ninja Black wondered.

"Takeru should be here with the answer." Deka Blue assured him as eventually he looked at the side and saw Red Mask holding a peacock feather, "There he is."

"Probably my Laser Arrow slipped by and tore down its feather." Red Mask said as he pointed out the feather, "And from the look of it, this doesn't seem like to look like feathers of a Phoenix."

"No it's not." Ptera Ranger said as she held the feather, "This looks more like a peacock feather. Maybe it wasn't mean to hold a Phoenix's attributes. Something must've been altering its origin."

"It's pretty common for monsters like that, I suppose." Red Mask added, "Which means, since it may not be a pure Phoenix, it might not be so immortal after all."

"So you're saying that, these feathers are its weak spot?" Ninja Black concluded, "Then it's only a matter of how do we lure it to reveal the feathers again."

"If we can get it to unleash its fire stream attack again. Speaking of fire…" Deka Blue said as he approached Mega Yellow, who was tending to Mele, "I never thought she, of all people, would try to cover one of us. _Unbelievable_."

"Now I understand… they're right…" Mega Yellow said, finally understanding what Geki Yellow said in the letter she found. Mele had the good in her heart. "I won't let her die like this. Takeru, let's tend to her in Bonds."

"Got it."

* * *

As Gasha Dokuro returned to the villains' base, he was greeted by Shibolena. "You were clearly having an advantage. Why did you retreat?"

"Where is that Long? !" Gasha Dokuro said in annoyance.

"You're lucky he's not here. He's away researching something with Kiros." Shibolena commented. If Long truly was here, it would be a swift beating that Gasha Dokuro received.

"Kiros? Him, a research type guy?" Gasha Dokuro wondered, "I thought the ones for geeky stuffs like that would be either Abrellar or you."

"What did you say? !" Shibolena did not take the snide comment about her being a 'geek' well as she closed her head to the skull Youkai, angrily.

"I have to say, though… that Long…" Gasha Dokuro calmed down a bit, "He knows his stuffs. This Phoenix Nejire was made powerful. Except… that feather…"

"Wing?" As Shibolena said that, she looked at the peacock feathers on Phoenix Nejire's back. One of them was torn. "I got a bad feeling about this."

"That's because it's its weak spot." In a sudden, Long's voice echoed as he approached the three. "Interesting, they spotted it that quick."

"Long? Since when?" Gasha Dokuro asked, surprised.

"Ah, well I was looking through several underground beasts from Kiros. But I'm done." Long said as he turned towards the Phoenix Nejire, "Go down again. Your destiny to destroy Mele has yet to be fulfilled." In response, the monster cawed as it exited the room.

"You…!" Shibolena angrily looked at Long. She was unable to hold off most of her angers of seeing Long committing thievery on her monster, "What if Peacock Nejire…!"

"Oh, he's no longer your Peacock Nejire, remember? He's my Phoenix Nejire now." Long's reply was a smug, but effective, "Regardless, if it is smart, it will do everything with its power to conceal its weak point. If not…"

Gasha Dokuro was silent. However he knew something that could at least give hope to his side. 'This man claims to be perfect... but he's not really like that. Just you wait, your smug attitude and not-so-perfect creations will be your downfall.'

* * *

"Mele… Mele…"

"Uh…" As Mele opened her eyes, she found herself once again lying in the infirmary of Bonds. But this time, the whole team was surrounding her, especially Chisato who's holding her hand. "This is…"

"You took a blast meant for Chisato." Takeru explained in a short sentence, "We're in your debt."

"Huh…" Mele was about to get up and leave again, but her body refused to do so. Aside of still having pain all over her body, something from inside was keeping her there, "I… just don't want to involve you from something of my business."

"Your personal business?" Mei asked in curiosity, "I thought it was a Nejire, not a…"

"That monster uses the Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Fist style." Mele answered and started explaining, "During the battle against the Gekirangers, I and Rio-sama were infused with Long's Gengi, thus learning the Gen-Jyuu Ken. The Phoenix Fist was my field of expertise. I thought that if it was my expertise, then it was mine to finish, not anyone else."

"Still, saving Chisato was very uncalled, but we're really grateful for it." Jiraiya added, which caused Mele to get a little flustered, but quickly regained her composure.

"N-no! It wasn't my intention! I told you, my body moved by itself!" She tried to cover it, but her ruse of feigning aloofness was seen through.

"Don't give such cheesy reasoning like that." It was Hoji who started, "You have another reason. And from the look of it, it seems like it has something to do with us."

"Ugh…" Mele bit her lips. Remembering on how unfamiliar she was with the Nejire Beast, resulting her bad performance in battle, she realized that knowledge on Rinshi alone wouldn't help her. Long might unleash more different monsters. It looked like she had no choice but to use these people to help her reach her goal, "All right, fine. I… I need your help. For this one time, to help me punish those traitors." Mele started, she couldn't believe herself at this point, requesting for help for something not related to Rio. 'It's a good thing none of those Gekirangers were here. They'd laugh at me at this rate…'

"While you may say that, I'm sure you have another reason." Chisato then closed in on Mele's face while holding her hand, "You know there is good in you, and you feel home with us, right?"

"What? You've got to be kidding!" Mele yelled, also a bit flustered, "Me? Good? How many times do I have to repeat myself? ! There's no way that people like you would accept me!"

"Then why did you protect Chisato suddenly?" Takeru suddenly gave a question that made Mele froze, "A martial artist knows their own body the best. And as far as I know, there's no martial artist that gives excuse about 'my body moved itself'. The heart would've had other reasons to tell your body to move."

"I have no heart. I don't understand what you're talking about." Mele tried to deny again, "I'm a dead woman walking, if you must know."

"If you have no heart, then why are you able to love?" And then, Mei's words once again pierced Mele's thoughts, "You boasted that you love Rio. And from your words, it seemed that you are serious. If you can love Rio, then it's a proof that you have a heart."

"Tch…" Mele bit her tongue. Mei was right, it was her love to Rio that kept her going, and inadvertently, that means she grew a heart over the time she spent with him. Now it was merely… expanding. But before she was done thinking, Chisato approached her further.

"Mele… I stumbled upon a letter written by a Gekiranger." Chisato said, recalling the letter written by Ran, "And from the look of it… it looks like she accepted you as a friend, and wished she could've done that before you apparently sacrificed your life for them. It seems that they've approved you as a friend."

Hearing that, Mele was shocked. Ran… accepting her? Last time, the one who truly accepted her was only Jan. Both Ran and Retsu remained suspicious and couldn't forget about her and Rio's crimes towards humanity, which was justified after all. She didn't know what they were doing, but for the two to eventually forgive her after being suspicious… She felt moved. Without her realizing it, a single tear fell from her eye.

"Is that a tear I saw?" Hoji's words brought Mele back to reality as she quickly wiped it away.

"No, no! Just… sand in my eyes!" Mele tried to give excuse again, but she eventually sighed and gave in. "Fine, all right, I'll be honest! I… uh…" Mele then looked at Jiraiya, "When you say that everyone would accept me… I was actually… surprised. So, I'd like to see if you really would do it."

"Oh, we will!" Chisato was the first to accept and pulled Mele's hand forward and put hers atop of Mele's, "Here's for our new friend, Mele! Right, guys?"

Takeru smiled and put her hand above Chisato's, followed by the rest as Takeru gave a reassuring sentence, "Until you return to Rio… you can consider this your home, Mele."

"Until the reunion with Rio-sama… indeed." Mele said, finally smiling, "You need to know that even if I accept that we're friends… my heart will always belong to Rio-sama. So don't get any wrong ideas."

"Of course. We understand." Jiraiya accepted the deal. But at that time, the alarms of Bonds were ringing again. It seemed that once again Phoenix Nejire was on the loose.

"Okay, if we're done on this, let's get a move on." Hoji said as he attempted to go with the rest.

"Wait." Mele suddenly stopped the rest as she spoke, "That monster… leave it to me."

"Huh? Are you sure, Mele?" Chisato asked.

"I want to make it pay for making fun of me and my skills before. It's… personal." Mele firmly said as she clenched her fist, "Don't worry about my unfamiliarity. I think I've seen enough to make my own plans."

* * *

As the Phoenix Nejire continued its rampage, only caws came out of it as it began kicking various properties from lamp post, park chairs and even building. And to some humans caught in the act, they would be unfortunate enough to be kicked, or burnt with its falling feather. Until…

"WAIT!"

Takeru's yell was enough to stop it on the tracks. He came along with his friends, also bringing Mele along. "Your rampage ends here, monster!"

"It's payback time." Mele said as she also cracked her knuckles, "I'll show you that the Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Fist has nothing on my Rin-Jyuu Chameleon Fist!" As she said that, she instantly transformed into her chameleon suit.

"We should follow suit as well! Transform, everyone!" Takeru rallied as the rest nodded, and prepared to transform.

"**AURA MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

Just as the five transformed, the Phoenix Nejire let some of its smaller feathers fall to the ground, forming into Dorodoros, Kunekune soldiers and also minor Rinshi.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"We are…!" And once again, when Red Mask gave the signal, Mele was still not saying it. However, she at least also followed suit and took a stance with the rest, "**SUPER SENTAI!**"

The Phoenix Nejire cawed once more and had the bunch of soldiers attack. "You do understand what to do, Mele." Red Mask said to Mele who was stepping forward on her own.

"Yeah. It's that thing or me who remains standing." Mele said as she started to sprint towards the running soldiers. "Bugs… get lost!" With that yell, she drew her sai and didn't stop running. As she ran, she tossed aside any soldiers who tried barring her path, until Phoenix Nejire was the one in front of her, in which she leapt and launched a flying kick… which was also countered with a flying kick. Both feet clashed and eventually they leapt behind. "Let's continue…"

With newfound determination, Mele then engaged in battle against the Phoenix Nejire. In the meantime, after the soldiers' formation was left in a disarray thanks to Mele's charge, the Super Sentai went in and attacked the soldiers, giving Mele her own time to deal with the monster. This time, she fared a bit better as she at least was able to not let the monster land a clean hit.

It wasn't after several bouts of fighting that she heard cheering.

"Go, Mele!"

"Get it hard!"

"You can do it!"

It turns out the Super Sentai was eventually done with the soldiers and now they're cheering for her. 'Ugh… distractions…!' It was what Mele thought at first. However, she felt something weird. They were giving her support vocally, giving their heart and trust to her. When she felt that, she also felt an incredible power and spirit swelling inside her. 'I'm not alone… I will prevail!' With the newfound determination, she managed to swipe one of the Phoenix Nejire's kick and punched it on a chest, knocking it away.

"Rin Jyuu Chameleon Ken Ringi! Zekka Ryouran!" Mele then opened her mouth and unleashes a barrage of sharp needles from her tongue. It hit the Phoenix Nejire quite hard. No matter how long it was, Mele continued to barrage it with her tongue needles. Until eventually…

Suddenly, withstanding the damages thus far, Phoenix Nejire unleashed its peacock feathers. Burning with blazing inferno, it then unleashes a jet of flame that engulfed Mele. However, she did not move at all, letting the flames consume her.

"Mele! No!" Mega Yellow yelled as she realized that Mele was burnt again. When the fire subsided, she was nowhere to be seen.

"No… just when you found another blaze within you to win and living…" Ptera Ranger also lamented, "You said you'll live on to meet with Rio… but why did you throw your life away…!"

"No, I don't think so." However, Red Mask remained calm.

"What do you mean with that…!" Deka Blue said back to him, until he saw the Phoenix Nejire running towards them, "Incoming!"

"_Damn you!_ I will avenge her!" Ninja Black said as he drew his Kakuremaru and prepared to run and attack… but in a sudden, the Phoenix Nejire stopped. Or rather, it's as if someone was pulling her from behind.

And all of a sudden, Mele re-materialized and was revealed to have grabbed one of its fiery feather. "AAAAHHH!" The fire still burnt her, but she gathered every ounce of her power to eventually tear the feather away, causing the Phoenix Nejire to shriek in pain.

"Mele…! But, how?" Ptera Ranger was at least glad. However, she didn't get how she came back to life.

"Anyone knows what a chameleon does?" Red Mask suddenly gave a small question.

"Ah… yeah! So that's it! She's using her chameleon traits to blend to the nature and catch the Nejire off guard!" Mega Yellow concluded.

"Exactly. I suppose she's waiting for the flames to appear to disappear so it fools the monster into thinking it succeeded in burning her to ash." Red Mask continued, "But that was the moment she vanishes and prepares her sneak attack."

Meanwhile, as Mele grabbed the torn feather, she continued to run at the stunned Phoenix Nejire. "These feathers… are your weakness! I saw… and I just confirmed it!" It turned out that when she covered Mega Yellow beforehand and lost her consciousness, she did witness how Red Mask's Laser Arrow torn one of its feathers and it was in quite some pain. When she got near the Nejire Beast, she quickly got behind it again and one by one, she tore the feathers.

However, as the feathers were all in her hand, the flames started to burn her, as if giving her something. "GAAH! What is this… power… overwhelming me…!" She also felt familiar. This is the power of the Phoenix Fist she used before. It was a gift from Long, and last time, she let it overwhelm her Rinki. However, not this time… this time, she'll show him that her body would be commanded by her own. She would make his technique hers, completely cowing it and prove the superiority of her Rin-Jyuu Ken "No… you be quiet and be my power instead! Mine! AAAAHHH!"

Gathering all her Rinki, a slight black explosion occurred around Mele and when it subsided, she was standing there. However, while she was still in her chameleon, the flames of the Phoenix were in her. "Mele… what are you…!" Deka Blue said, worried on the flames around her.

"Heh heh heh… Long, if you're listening right now, you better do!" Mele said triumphantly, "Look at this… look at how your Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Fist… assimilated into my Rin-Jyuu Chameleon Fist! It seems the Phoenix recognizes me more as its master. Now you'll see, how I turn your sham excuse of martial arts into a true force to destroy you!" As Mele said that, she pointed to the Phoenix Nejire "Starting with this monster!"

As the Phoenix Nejire stood on its legs, Mele still surrounded herself with the flames. "You don't know how to use a Phoenix's flame, do you? Here… I'll show you. Ringi… Kisshou Kigan!" Infused with the Rinki, the flames started to turn purple as Mele launched a flaming phoenix into the Phoenix Nejire. The power overwhelmed it and without its feather, it lost Long's protection and immortality, destroying it.

"Way to go, Mele!" Red Mask said as the rest came to her.

"Heh, of course. Now it already paid the price for humiliating me before." Mele said, scoffing.

"That technique… that speech…" Ninja Black also wondered on what the speech meant.

"Oh? Well, I'm just taking what's given to me from Long." Mele answered, "His fault for giving it to me. Now, my Rin-Jyuu Chameleon Fist style expands further! Ah… Rio-sama will be proud to see how I, Mele, evolved on my own!"

"So… you're going to call it 'Rin-Jyuu Phoenix Fist' now as opposed to 'Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Fist'?" Deka Blue asked again.

"I… haven't decided that just yet." Mele answered.

"So you'll stay with us, right?" Ptera Ranger asked, approaching her.

"You… I guess staying with you wouldn't be so bad. I can stand you after all." Mele eventually caved in and held Ptera Ranger on the shoulders, "You do acknowledge that despite this, I used to be a monster?"

"Oh, you're not a monster after all!" Mega Yellow said, holding Mele's hand, "You're our friend. Mele. You're also a member of Super Sentai!" Mele was shocked hearing it as she remembered something. During the second battle with Long assisted with the Go-ongers, she along with Rio also declared themselves Super Sentai. It was… a good feeling. She only nodded as she saw Red Mask approaching her.

"Welcome to the team, Mele." He said, offering his hand for handshake. Mele could only put her hand to his slowly and grabbed it, following a handshake.

A former enemy repented and now joined the team as the color Green. But what of the last color? And what would be Long plotting next? Keep on fighting and good luck! Super Sentai!

* * *

"Guess it's a fool after all." Long snidely said as he witnessed how Phoenix Nejire fall. "Revealing its weakness that quick. Guess the Nejire Beasts are only good for cannon fodders for my grand plan."

"How dare you!" Shibolena was angry at such insult. But, with a small jab, Long knocked her away to the wall.

"I hope this… Underground Imperial Beast… or Doggler, would do fine." Long said, looking at Kiros.

"Of course it will!" Kiros said, boasting, "It'll definitely be better than your stupid Chinese Ghost turned…" And with such slip, he received a kick right on the face by Long.

"Watch your mouth, mortal."

"However, you did hear the declaration of hers, didn't you." Abrellar said, concerned about how Mele declared that her assimilating his technique, "I hope you have a good explanation of this."

"Or maybe…" Gasha Dokuro added, "She just threw a wrench to your plan that?"

"No. It doesn't matter." Long gave a short answer, "She can use this so-called Phoenix Fist copying my style, but she will never defeat me. As with those Sentai."

Lamie, who were watching all that while she tended to Shibolena and helping her to get up, couldn't help but wonder what was running on Long's mind. 'This man is nuts… Bandora-sama usually never went this far. What kind of madness will he plan in the future…? But perhaps this madness might be what we need to defeat the Super Sentai. However… once that's done with, he is no longer of use. I can't stand him.'

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: And that's the end of the chapter! Sorry if I end up kinda overusing Mele, but I had to develop her to make her more like an actual ally. Next chapter may see another focus on Mele, but it's gonna get whammy and references to another series so I hope you keep reading!

Also, yeah. Long is a douche, even to his allies.


	14. Hero Reborn

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Hey guys, I'm in for a quick update to make up for that writer block! At any rate, this chapter will contain lots of cameos, callback and probably a quick confirm on who will appear. So stay tuned!**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 14: Hero Reborn**

* * *

As days passed, Mele had been accepted to live in Bonds. For the moment, she spent most of her time training with Takeru, as both were martial artists. Takeru adapted well with Mele's fighting style and continued to improve his own karate as well. And at this point, they were training with their suits on.

"HYAA!"

"HAAA!"

As both launched their punches, both of them hit each other on their opponent's upper chests, causing them to fall.

"Ouch, that hurt…" Red Mask said, clutching his chest, "But it was a good match, so I guess it's worth it."

"Yeah. You're actually pretty good, Takeru." Mele said, also clutching her chest, "Though of course Rio-sama is stronger." Beneath the Red Mask suit, Takeru just put up a sly smile hearing that. He decided to just let Mele gush about Rio any time she liked.

"Look at the time, guys." Suddenly, Hoji entered the room along with Jiraiya, "Training is OK, but… learn to share the facility?"

"What, you guys are training too?" Mele said as she unmorphed to her human form, "You know, I can still go on. A boxer and a ninja, those would be interesting sparring partner."

"I'm a detective, not a boxer." Hoji corrected, but at that point, Takeru, already unmorphed, just held Mele on the hand and turned to the two.

"Ah yeah, we're done here. Let's have a bit of a break, Mele!" Takeru said cheerily as he eventually dragged Mele out with him, but not after he gave some final words to Hoji and Jiraiya, "Have fun sparring!"

Hoji sighed looking at the two. But when he looked at Jiraiya's former place, he was no longer in his place and instead was already in his ninja gi. "Any time you're ready, Hoji." Jiraiya beckoned, as he put his hands wrapped in front of him.

"Well, fine. Wait for me setting up." As Hoji said that, he approached Jiraiya as he started unbuttoning his uniform and get himself equipped with his boxing gear.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Bonds' kitchen, Mele once again tried eating on human foods, this time cooked by Mei. "Well, this is actually pretty good…" Mele said as she chewed down her food, "I think I'm going to enjoy human foods at this rate."

"Really? I was worried that my food wouldn't turn out good, but thanks for the compliment!" Mei happily said, although Mele got her face a little puzzled.

"Takeru… is her voice always this high-pitched?" Mele asked bluntly, "I feel like talking to a chipmunk…"

"Uh…" Takeru said, sweatdropping as he already saw Mei getting a bit annoyed. Somehow he had to defuse the situation a little, "You'll get used to it eventually. Once you do, you'll actually find it really cute." He then pulled a hand gesture to Mei, as if telling her to calm down. The Risha Tribe Princess eventually understood and nodded in agreement, still putting up a smile without flaunting anything.

"I'm home!" Chisato's voice was heard as she entered, "Today's lectures were pretty short, so I can go back early. And lucky me, I got these!" As she said that, she pulled a ticket. It seemed to be a ticket to enter an amusement park.

"Amusement park ticket, huh?" Takeru noted, looking at the ticket.

"Yep, it says this ticket can make two extra people enter the amusement park for free! Pay one for three! Great, huh?" Chisato said happily, "Mei, wanna come?"

"Amusement park? Oh, I'd love to!" Mei said as she clapped her hand together once, "I used to take some children there playing with them. It's been awhile. I wonder how they have evolved!"

"Great, you'll just see later!" Chisato answered, and eventually she looked at Mele, "Say… Mele, wanna come with us?"

"Huh?" Mele was confused, "Amusement park? What to do there?"

"It's for having fun, riding rides and such. You should give it a shot, Mele. It'll be your first time, right?" Takeru said, "Better use this chance about living like a normal human in modern days! Taking a break is also important in training." Mele then hung her head, thinking. Before she became a Rinshi, she lived in the ancient times when technology wasn't that modern, training in the arts of Jyuu Ken until branching out into Rin-Jyuu Ken. She never had her fun, and somehow, she started to have a longing to enjoy such thing like a normal girl.

"I guess I'll have to find out what kind of fun it is." Mele answered slowly, "Fine. I'll come with you."

"Wow! Awesome!" Chisato said with excitement in her voice. Then she held Mele's shoulder and pushed her somewhere. "Now come here. We got things to prepare!"

"Prepare? What for?" Mele didn't understand what Chisato meant, letting herself be dragged.

"Mei, you come with me too! It's that!" Chisato said, winking to Mei and when she understood what she meant, she nodded and followed Chisato inside.

"Girls sure know how to have their fun, huh." Takeru sighed, looking at the girls that just closed the door, "Guess it's a girl's day out for their breaks."

After awhile waiting, Mei and Chisato re-entered the kitchen, and they brought along Mele, who was now dressed more casually, wearing jeans and casual green clothes. However, her hairpin remained. "Takeru, how does Mele look this way? I bought the clothes myself!" Chisato asked.

"Wow, you actually look pretty good, even with the hairpin!" Takeru complimented, smiling.

"This is totally unnecessary…" Mele sighed, "And you're not even changing your clothes…"

"Oh, don't worry about us, especially me." Mei said as she spun around. Using her disguise power, she once again changed her clothing into another casual clothes, with skirt rather than jeans. "There we go! Now we all look casual!"

"Right, guess I can call that fair…" Mele replied, still feeling rather awkward.

"Okay, what are waiting for, then? Let's have some fun!" As Chisato said, she led the girls to exit the Bonds and immediately headed to the amusement park.

* * *

"Ah! It's Mei and Chisato!" As they just entered the amusement park, several kids approached the ladies.

"Hello, everyone! You've been good kids, right?" Mei greeted them, "So, what would you like to ride?"

"That ride! That ride!" The kids said as they pointed to a merry-go-round. As Mele looked at it, she didn't look too amused.

'I have to ride such childish thing? !'

"Hey, look happy! This is where the fun starts!" Chisato reminded Mele, but eventually this caused a girl to realize Mele was there.

"Sis! Are you a friend of Chisato?" The girl asked.

"Uh… yeah. My name is Mele." Mele gave a short answer. In a sudden, she formed a smile, something she couldn't believe either, 'What am I doing?'

"Ah! Sister Mele!" The girl cheerily said, "My name is Kasumi! Let's ride that together!" Suddenly Mele felt weird. Just recently, she used the name 'Kasumi' as her guise, and then there came a girl with the same name.

"O… kay." Mele answered, and eventually they rode the merry-go-round.

Mei and Chisato were having fun riding together, but Mele just sat on her seat, looking at the other kids who seemed to be having fun. Especially Kasumi, who as sitting on her lap, with one of Mele's hand hugging her. She was having fun, and looking at her, Mele felt completely at peace and couldn't help but smile. 'This again? Why am I suddenly smile-happy now? This is so not like you, Mele!'

"Um… Sister Mele?" Kasumi suddenly said, looking at Mele, "You're beautiful."

"Oh, really?" Mele said, surprised.

"I want to grow up like you one day…" Kasumi said innocently, "Being able to hug this warmly, having a beautiful face, big boobs…" The last part surprised Mele. Someone, especially that young, commenting about her boobs? ! Even Rio wouldn't do that! She was speechless hearing such words. However, Kasumi wasn't done. "… and of course a kind heart like yours."

"Kind… heart…" Mele muttered. It's what everyone was doing these days, calling her 'kind'. She never got what that meant. She did have a heart, but that was only for Rio, not for every kid in the world!

Regardless as the ride was over, Mei, Chisato and Mele walked together once more along with other children. When they passed over the lake, they saw a rowing boat ride. "Boats?" Mele said.

"Ah that! It's a rowing boat ride!" Chisato explained to Mele, "You know, usually there will be bonus for lovers who took the boat. Riding that could add up the romantic feel, you know!" As she formed a sly smile as she looked at Mei, "Hey, Mei. Next time, I'll reserve a ride just for you and Hoji. How about it?"

"Oh, what was that supposed to mean, Chisato!" Mei, flustered and blushing, half-shouted, "We're not an item together! And I'm sure he'll refuse if you asked as well!"

"Just kidding, just kidding! I know he's got his issues… but… gee, loosen up a bit, will you?" Chisato said, also recalling the last incident with Hoji and his previous lover. When they looked at Mele, however, they saw her spacing out while walking. "Uh… Mele…?"

"Ah… me… and Rio-sama… on a boat together…" Mele was daydreaming exactly what she was saying, her taking a boat ride with Rio rowing the boat, just the two of them. And she agreed it looked so romantic. She put her hands together, imagining how blissful it would be.

She was so into the daydream that suddenly a flyer flew straight to her face, bringing her back to reality and she had to put the flyer away from her face. "What is this? !"

"Oh, seems like a flyer. Let me see…" Chisato said as she read the flyer. And by herself, she became ecstatic on her own, "They're planning for an 'Igrec the Galaxian' movie? ! Awesome!"

"Igrec… the Galaxian?" Mei was puzzled a little. She seemed to recall the name a little.

"Ah, it's a superhero film series. About a gigantic alien man fighting to defend humanity from other evil aliens! It was pretty old school, but man, this is one awesome show!" Chisato started, "I mean, back when I was with the Megarangers, I knew my allies were also fans of the show! Oh boy, this is gonna be awesome. They even got that famous director to do the directing!"

"Ah, yes. I remember that some children I protected also spoke about this Igrec a lot!" Mei said as she looked at the children, "Isn't it great, you guys? Your hero was about to get a new movie! Let's watch together when it's out!" However, Mei's cheerful invitation was met with sour faces. "Huh? You guys?"

"What's wrong?" Chisato asked out, "Don't you love Igrec?"

"Well so much for being a 'hero'. It looks like it has no supporters." Mele remarked. But at that point, she felt like someone was hugging her. When she looked behind, she saw Kasumi crying with her.

"I… I hate Igrec! He hospitalized my father!" Kasumi cried out.

"A fictional character attacking real people? !" Mele was shocked hearing it, "I never heard such plot from Long! Something must be amiss… Anyway, Kasumi, stop crying." But Kasumi wouldn't stop crying. She seemed to look up to Mele a lot. Mei then whispered something to Mele and she decided to give it a shot. She hugged Kasumi and tried striking her hair, as soft as she could. "There, there…" It was like how Mei calmed her down. And for some reason, Mele didn't feel too bad.

* * *

"Kids, hating Igrec? !" After they returned to Bonds, the girls told the story to the boys. Jiraiya was shocked as he exclaimed, "That's impossible! When I went around fighting the Youkai with the Kakurangers, I haven't seen any kids that didn't love Igrec!"

"Something must've happened between my time into Hoji's original time…" Chisato tried guessing.

"I knew this would happen." Hoji said as he got up, "Igrec has fallen from the eyes of public."

"You know what happened, Hoji?" Mei asked, curiously.

"Well… I got this info from the Super Sentai before my team… the Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger." Hoji said, recalling his past.

* * *

_It was only a short time after the incident involving Alienizer Kazak, where the Dekarangers had to team up with the Abarangers in order to defeat him. Hoji was on a patrol, like usual, but this time at solo. However while riding through the road and passing through a store, he found an angry kid crying after throwing a toy to the ground._

"_I don't want that figure! I hate that phony hero!"_

"_There there, it's okay. We'll get you a new toy, a hero that you liked…" The kid's mother came and comforted him as she took him away._

'_Phony hero?' Hoji thought as he got off his motorcycle. As he picked up the toy… it was actually an Igrec action figure. 'This is Igrec! But I thought he's a popular TV show hero?'_

"_What are you doing here?" A familiar voice was heard. It wasn't from the Dekarangers, but from one of the Abarangers. His fellow Blue Warrior, Sanjou Yukito, otherwise known as Abare Blue._

"_Nothing, really. I just found a kid throwing temper tantrum and calling this hero a phony hero." Hoji said, showing the Igrec action figure, "I guess that happens between kids too."_

"_No, actually… this is kind of inevitable, after that day." Yukito said, also remembering his own past._

"_That day?" This piqued Hoji's interest. He would like to know how such a mighty, fan favorite hero fell._

"_We were fighting against Evolian's Giganoid named Hero. It took form of Igrec." Yukito recalled, "He summoned children to show off his strength, which then instead of doing something heroic, he did a lot of destructions to various places and laughed off when the children begged to stop, he continued to cause chaos. The children were in despair that their hero was a phony one, and that was exactly what the Evolians planned. We managed to stop the Evolian's plan and destroyed Hero. But one thing we know is that there was one thing we could not save… Igrec's reputation."_

"_I… see." Hoji nodded, hearing the story and understanding the children. "So… there's nothing we can do?"_

"_Nothing." Yukito said regretfully, "You're a cop, I'm a chiropractor. This is a job for film producers."_

* * *

"And that's how it is." Hoji concluded his tale, "Probably the children you met were also friends with those present in the incident. Information sure runs fast in this universe."

"Those creeps…!" Takeru was clenching his fist hearing the tale. "How dare they do this to Igrec! My… my childhood hero!"

"You're an Igrec fan too, Takeru?" Mei asked.

"Oh yeah, it ran from a really long time ago." Jiraiya added, "Takeru should be on the right age to watch and enjoy Igrec when it was on its first run."

"How big was a fan are you back then?" Chisato asked.

"Really a big one, as much as a not-so-rich fan could afford!" Takeru answered, "I even sometimes tried emulating him flying, by jumping off the roof as a kid!"

"Jumping off the roof as a kid… like a moron…" Mele gave a snarky comment, "You're not a bright child back then, huh?"

"I… well, ah…" Takeru bit his lip. He accidentally let out parts of his embarrassing past that he swore to overcome, all because he was too hyped on defending his childhood hero. "A-anyway! I have a plan! Next time we have to fight, let's make it that it looks like Igrec saves the day!"

"Huh? What kind of plan is that?" Hoji asked, not sure if he understood.

"We'll just make an Igrec suit and wear it!" Takeru said, "If I have to create something to modify our voice to make it sound like Igrec's, I'll do it! I… I want to ease the despair of those children who lost their faith to Igrec… It's not just for myself. It's also for fellow fans of Igrec who were thrown to despair."

"That… actually sounds like a good idea, Takeru." Chisato nodded, "I don't know how much I can do with that, nor if I'm as good as Shun in computers… but I'll do my best to help you."

"Me too." Hoji said, "The despair that the Abarangers couldn't soothe… we'll wrap it up for them as well."

"Thank you, guys…" Takeru said slowly, but happily, "For catering to my selfish request…"

And so for the time being, the Super Sentai was instead building up a project, using old footages of Igrec that they could get from the internet, building up the costumes themselves, although human-sized.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the enemy base, Lamie was once again sightseeing on Earth, and she also witnessed how the children reacted to Igrec. "Boy, this is truly ecstatic…" Lamie commented, "If Bandora-sama was here…" The mere mention of Bandora was enough to make Lamie silent, and was reminded of her child. She was fond enough to her baby, and if she wanted to make the children despair, it seemed that she was completely OK with her baby despairing later. 'No, no no!' Lamie shook her head, 'My baby is not a human baby! It's OK if it's targeted on humans…' As she thought that, she smiled as she continued watching…

"Enjoying sightseeing, I suppose… Lamie." Long suddenly arrived behind her, bringing along a black monster with two horns, two red circular skin color on its chest and one in its head, as it was faceless, along with rubber-like hands.

"Long… is that the monster you discussed with Kiros?" Lamie asked, not with a very pleasant tone unlike with her other allies.

"Yes, actually I'm surprised this monster existed. I suppose it was such a terrible evil that even Emperor Zeba of the Underground Empire wouldn't even revive it." Long answered, looking at the monster, "Behold. This is… Zeta Doggler."

'A monster that surprised even Long? Interesting. I never thought Tube would hide such monster.' Lamie thought. But as she saw Long, the Infinite Dragon didn't seem to show any fear in his face. 'Again with that smug face…'

"It is said amongst the Tube lore, which was also in my knowledge during my life as an immortal that…" Long started, "This Zeta Doggler was a distant offspring of another alien lifeform, but instead it was of a human-size. Their normal size would be as big as my true form or worse. But regardless, this will be enough. You'll see its power soon."

Long then turned back and commanded the monster, "Go forth, Zeta Doggler. Wreak as much chaos as you can… and crush the Super Sentai beneath your feet." The monster roared as he ran forth, getting into Earth. "Enjoy the show, but I think you'll be pleased with what I have in tow later."

"Whatever you mean, Long?" Lamie asked, slightly curious as Long just grinned.

"You'll meet someone you know and she'll be staying here... for awhile."

* * *

"So that's how it is." Takeru concluded as they looked at the Igrec suit, "We'll just say Igrec was being punished in his home planet for his insubordination and endangering humanity, so he got shrunk down. Now, he wants to make it up and apologize…"

In a sudden, however, the alarm rang once more. "Takeru, probably we should delay this a bit." Jiraiya noted, "We're gonna have to assess the strength of our enemy first."

"You're right. We can't underestimate them and just do it for the sake of show, we gotta gauge it first." Takeru nodded as he stood up, "Let's get moving."

* * *

Within town, once again the city was in chaos thanks to the arrival of Zeta Doggler. Using the circular red skin from his body, he unleashed three beams which hit many people and making them vanish.

"HAAA!" Fortunately, however, the Super Sentai arrived just in time. It began with Ptera Ranger, Mega Yellow and a morphed Mele delivering a flying kick consecutively to the monster, and eventually followed with Deka Blue and Ninja Black leaping with their D-Knuckle and Shinobi Knuckle forward and simultaneously punched Zeta Doggler from the back, followed by a leaping slice by Red Mask.

"You'll go no further, monster!" Red Mask said, pointing to the monster, until he realized something. "Whoa…"

"What of him, Takeru? You look surprised." Ninja Black asked.

"He looks a bit like the archnemesis of Igrec…" Red Mask commented, "What kind of evil empire sought inspiration from such TV show?"

"What species is it?" Mele asked, hoping to know that it's a similar one with what she fought or not.

"From what I can gather… it's like an Underground Imperial Beast…" Red Mask stated, trying to feel how it was like slashing the monster, "Oh, whatever. Let's go!"

Thus the team began fighting against the monster. Zeta Doggler, however, did not bother to summon any Ungler soldiers. Instead, its body was very tough that normal attacks weren't able to dent it.

"Maybe the three red orbs were the weakness!" Ptera Ranger said as she prepared her Ptera Arrow, in which she prepared not just one, but three arrows to shoot. "I'll shoot them all at once! Please hit, Ptera Arrow!" With one release, she shot down the three arrows, all accurately to Zeta Doggler's red skins. It did a good damage on it as it stepped back. However…

"Zettaaa…" Suddenly the monster spoke in an ominous tone. The next time, however, it yelled with a high-volume but extremely ominous voice, "ZETTAAAAA!" As it screamed, it unleashed three red beams all headed to Ptera Ranger, who was too late to dodge.

"AAAHH!" As Ptera Ranger screamed, she suddenly vanished from the sight.

"Mei!" Deka Blue yelled, until he eventually turned towards Zeta Doggler, "How dare you! What have you done to her!" Instinctively he formed his D-Sniper and shot three times to the exact spots that Ptera Ranger shot.

"ZEEEETTTTAAAAA!" It was still standing and unleashed yet another triple beam that hit Deka Blue, which caused him to vanish as well.

"Hoji!" Red Mask also called out, and he came to a conclusion, "Don't attack those red skins! It looks like it will just cause this monster to unleash that vanishing beam!"

"Then where do we attack it instead? !" Mega Yellow asked, "His other parts were pretty tough!"

"How about the horns!" Ninja Black exclaimed as he prepared his Kakuremaru, leapt and tried slashing the horns. It did push the Zeta Doggler back, signifying success.

"Great idea, I'll cut it too!" Mega Yellow said as she ran forward, "Blade Arm!" Sharpening her arm, she leapt and also tried chopping the horn. The combination of the two started to overwhelm the Zeta Doggler as it tried to block the two's assault.

However, as they were avoiding to attack the red skins, eventually their attacks faltered and they end up being knocked away. "ZETTAAAA!" With yet another ominous scream, the Zeta Doggler unleashed the beams once again to the unsuspecting, downed Ninja Black and Mega Yellow.

"What? !" Mega Yellow yelled in disbelief as she started vanishing.

"But we didn't…!" Ninja Black said as he also vanished.

"Guys!" Red Mask exclaimed, "I guess this enemy is not to be underestimated. This doesn't seem to be the time to do that Igrec show!"

"Good to know that you're not bringing that ridiculous concept here." Mele answered as she took her stance, "There are no room for mistakes. We have to risk hitting the red skin too."

"I see. It looks like a gamble was needed." Red Mask said as he moved forward with his sword ready. "Here I go!" As he exclaimed, he ran forward as he started attacking, explicitly aiming for the red skins. 'This is the only way to damage this monster! As of that beam…'

"ZETTAAA!" The monster yelled again as Red Mask immediately jumped away from the beam.

'Dodged!' Red Mask said as he realized that he didn't get hit. But when he looked behind, he saw that the building behind him vanished. "Huh? ! It makes buildings vanish too? !"

"Takeru, watch out!" Mele reminded him and Red Mask ended up dodging yet another beam, making a lamp post vanish.

"Damn it, at this rate…" Red Mask said as he prepared to fight once more. But when he looked behind, he saw children walking around. And when he looked at Zeta Doggler, the monster was preparing to blast the children again. "WATCH OUT!" Red Mask ended up covering the children as the beam hit him instead, causing him to vanish.

"Takeru!" Mele yelled as she looked at the monster, "All right, you fool. Now it's just you and me…!" Mele then leapt and began attacking the monster.

As the children were still watching, horrified of what happened, they began to scream in fear. 'Ugh, this is distracting! Better do something…' Mele thought as she leapt to the air and prepared something, "Rin-Jyuu Chameleon Fist Ringi! Karen Toppa!" Immediately drawing her sai, she spun and charged through the Zeta Doggler, hitting and tearing through its left horn.

"What are you doing there? ! Get the hell outta here, do you wanna get hurt? !" Mele screamed to the children.

"That voice… is that you, Sister Mele?" One of the children said, in a familiar tone that Mele recognized.

"Huh…? Kasumi?" Mele muttered, but it was interrupted when there was yet another ominous scream.

"ZEETTTAAAA!" It was Zeta Doggler unleashing something, but this time from the horn. Instead of the red beam, though, it was a blue lightning. It hit Mele right on her stomach and knocked her away with mighty force.

"AAAAHHH!" As Mele was thrown to a very far away place, the children screamed as they run off. Surprisingly, Zeta Doggler did not chase them. Instead, it continued to walk around in circles, unleashing some red beams to make things vanish for no apparent reason.

* * *

"Takeru…" Takeru felt like he was being called. When he opened his eyes, he saw his allies surrounding him.

"Hoji… Mei… Jiraiya… Chisato… you guys are OK?" Takeru said as he got up.

"We're fine. But… we got another problem." Chisato said as eventually the ground quaked. "Quick, scram!"

Helping Takeru get up, the four immediately ran. As they looked around, they saw people running in chaos. "What in the world…!" Takeru said, confused, "What just happened here? !"

"Well, look behind." Hoji said as they continued to run. As Takeru did so, he saw what happened… Zeta Doggler has turned huge.

"It's now giant? ! Damn, where is Great Five or Galaxy Robo when I need it!" Takeru exclaimed as he kept running.

"Wish I could say the same to Daizyujin…" Mei said as eventually they found an alley between two buildings, which they used to hide, "But this doesn't seem to be the case."

"I know what it is. It must be that beam. It's not making people vanish." Jiraiya concluded, "It instead shrunk the victims."

"Whoa, that's bad…" Takeru noted. However, he wasn't just gonna stand there. "But even as a tiny guy, I'm not gonna just sit here and watch! AURA MASK!" He then attempted to transform, but nothing happened. "Can't change? !"

"Oh great, now we're stuck here, like sitting ducks." Hoji said, dejected, "It's like we're the civilians when a gigantic enemy of Igrec is on a rampage."

"Damn…" Takeru said as he hit the wall near him, "What do we do now…!"

* * *

As Kasumi and her friends ran forth, they saw Mele lying on a wall, battered. She eventually de-morphed into her more normal attire, still unconscious. "Sister… Mele…!" Kasumi innocently ran to her and hugged her.

"Kasumi… what are you doing?" Mele weakly said as she opened her eyes. "Run… this is not your place."

"I'm scared…" The girl began to sob again, hugging her even tighter, "I'm scared, sister… help me…"

"Ugh…" Mele groaned as she looked at the other children. They were looking at her too, with a look that was filled with fear…

"Please, help us from that monster…! We're scared…!" The children closed in to her, putting their hopes at her.

At this point, Mele realized something. Usually, when human despaired like this, the Rin-Jyuu Ken users would be able to become more powerful by drawing from the negative energy. This time, Mele felt completely empty. She did nothing as the children also tried tending to her wounds with whatever they had. They seem to look at her like a big sister. This touched something on Mele… something aside of Rio. Her heart was moved by these children's innocence as a single tear genuinely dropped from her eyes. But this time, she wasn't excusing it. She felt depended and appreciated. Deep down, something arose within her mind… a genuine desire to protect these children.

Until suddenly Mele saw something, a stray red beam heading straight to one of the male children tending to her. "WATCH OUT!" Mele yelled, but it was too late. The child was hit by the beam… but it didn't vanish. Instead, the beam went to the floor and fizzled. "… Huh? You, what happened?"

"I… I don't know, Sister!" The boy said.

"Must be something in your bag." Mele suggested.

"I'm not carrying anything…! Except maybe this…" The boy said as he pulled out a bar of gold, "It's a present from my grandfather…"

"Ah, of course!" Kasumi said, "Kosuke is a rich boy, no wonder his family can afford that!"

"Gold…!" Mele then realized something. The Igrec costume that the team made was majorly gold-colored. If she wore that, she'll be protected from Zeta Doggler's shrinking beam and could fight with ease.

"Er… you guys wait here, okay?" Mele said she got up, "I'm calling one of my friends." As she said that, she ran off to get away from the children's sight.

'I can't believe I'm running along with this stupid plan…'

* * *

Meanwhile, Takeru was powerless to stop the Zeta Doggler with him shrunk. The best he and the rest could do were to help people hide as Zeta Doggler continued to shrink many things as well as crushing down any properties shrunk down.

Until eventually, a huge shadow of a man was flying, crushing through the Zeta Doggler.

"Takeru! That…" Mei, who was trying to evacuate some children, pointed upwards and looked at the one facing the Zeta Doggler.

"_Oh My God_." Hoji and Jiraiya said in unison, realizing what it is.

"That's Igrec! He's come to save us!" Chisato exclaimed, raising the spirits up.

'No, that can't be Igrec, he's a fictional character!' Takeru thought, knowing the border of reality and fiction, 'But only we made an Igrec suit. Which means… is that Mele wearing the suit? !'

Thus 'Igrec' started fighting the Zeta Doggler. While it was using just martial arts moves rather than typical Igrec moves, it was faring better. The red beams did not affect 'Igrec' and even with the lightning, the 'Igrec' did not falter and kept fighting. Even though it's Mele behind the suit, the suit was given voice synthesizer, making it sound like the real Igrec voicing those grunting.

"Go, go, get'im Igrec!" Chisato cheered. But, the children's reaction was still sour, "Come on, you guys cheer too! Do you want him to be beaten and we're not saved?"

"It seems that they're still down with that event." Hoji said, noticing the face of the children that Mei brought.

"Okay, everyone please listen!" Takeru then stepped forward as he began a speech, "You may remember last time Igrec went berserk and was driven away. Yes, truly, it was Igrec. But, I, as his friend, vouch that he's sorry! He told me that the Galaxian court punished him for being mean to you guys back then and now he's making up for it! This is his way to apologize! So come on, do you accept his apology? ! Won't you let him protect your dreams and fight against evil once more, with your cheers backing him up? ! Then let's do it! Let's cheer for him!"

"Igrec! Igrec!" Takeru then began cheering alone, followed by Chisato. As the children saw, 'Igrec' was fighting with all his might, never once 'he' gave up. Slowly, one of the children cheered for Igrec once more, followed by the rest of the children, and even adults, along with Mei, Hoji and Jiraiya, all of them cheered for Igrec.

And fortunately for 'Igrec', the cheers of children recovering from despair were bad news for Zeta Doggler. Their cheering drained him of his power, such was its nature, thriving further when humans were in despair, and as the humans, especially children, were regaining hope, he felt like he's being pushed back. 'Now's my chance! Ringi: Kisshou Kigan!' Behind the Igrec costume, Mele whispered as she spread her hands. Combining her Rinki with the flames of a Phoenix, she unleashed a purple phoenix flame to cut through Zeta Doggler's stomach, catching it on explosion.

"Wow! Is that a new move? !" The crowd became ecstatic, thinking that it was a new move by Igrec.

'Ugh, fine… just so I don't catch any suspicion…' As Mele thought, she tried recalling how she watched the Igrec footages with the team, on how he made an exit after defeating his opponents. Thus she leapt upwards while raising her hand, as if flying back to space, while in truth she was just leaping very high and very far.

* * *

"Yay! Bravo Igrec!" As the crowd cheers, the effect of Zeta Doggler's shrinking beam was lifted away as things returned to normal size.

"All right! She did it!" Takeru exclaimed, knowing that this fiasco was over. Unfortunately, he looked to the side and saw some Ungler soldiers running. "What…! They… all right, everyone run!" He told the crowd as he saw the Ungler soldier surround the 'corpse' of Zeta Doggler and fed it with the Megagestrine X. It brought the monster back to life.

"It seems that 'Igrec' wasn't enough." Hoji said as he prepared his SP License, "That means it's our turn now."

"_Yes._ It's our turn, Takeru!" Jiraiya said, "We'll show them that Super Sentai is also strong and protecting this world, just like Igrec!"

"Indeed! Everyone, let's go!" Takeru signaled as the team prepared to transform.

"**AURA MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**DINO BUCKLER!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

The five transformed and stood ready with the Ungler soldiers covering for Zeta Doggler.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"We are… **SUPER SENTAI!**"

With that, the five warriors fought against the waves of Ungler soldiers, one by one taking them down before eventually facing the Zeta Doggler itself.

While the Megagestrine X revived it, Zeta Doggler was bereft of his red skin, completely destroyed by Mele in Igrec's suit. His other body parts became not-so-invulnerable either.

"Now the finishing, from long range!" Red Mask said as he prepared something. "Here we go! Laser Arrow!"

"Black Bow!"

"Mega Sling!"

"Ptera Arrow… triple shot!" For this time, Ptera Ranger shot three arrows at once, all of them hitting the Zeta Doggler. "Now! Hoji!"

"OK! Set! D-Sniper! Set… Charge! STRIKE OUT!" Deka Blue finally unleashed the finishing shot straight onto Zeta Doggler's body, destroying it into pieces.

"All right, it's done…" Red Mask said as the rest de-morphed. Shortly after, they saw Mele running to them.

"Hey… what just happened?" Mele looked at the surrounding, slightly confused.

"Oh, that monster came back for Round Two." Jiraiya said, "But the round's over and we won. Nice performance, by the way."

"Yeah. With things like this, I'm sure Igrec's reputation will be restored!" Chisato added.

"You guys are really idiots, getting so worked up on that." Mele added, "But still, if this was sent by Long, then I guess it's worth it."

* * *

Several days passed. As Takeru, Jiraiya and Mele were resting after another day of training, Chisato once again entered after returning from college. "Hey, guys! Great news!"

"What, Chisato?" Takeru asked.

"They gave green light on the Igrec movie! If it's successful, a sequel series may also be given a chance too!" Chisato said excitedly.

"What? !" Jiraiya said in the same enthusiasm, "Great, that means those kids will be able to enjoy Igrec again!"

"Looks like our efforts did restore his reputation." Takeru said, satisfied, "Thanks guys. Especially you, Mele."

"Huh?" Mele said, not really enthusiastic or something, "But I…"

"Oh, you came in, posing as Igrec to fight the monster that terrorizes those people, redeeming him in the eyes of many!" Takeru said.

"You got it wrong! I only wore that to be protected by its red beam!" Mele tried to excuse her actions, "I-I really don't care about that stupid show anyway. I… I don't know what possessed me to be THAT generous! So you better be grateful this time, OK? !"

"But thanks to you, children are happy too!" Chisato said, "I met that little Kasumi too. She said she's thankful for you."

"You told her it was me behind that suit? !" Mele exclaimed, slightly embarrassed.

"Yep. And you know what she said? She said you're so cool." Chisato assured her, which left Mele a little speechless. Remembering how she cared for Kasumi back then, she felt that somehow, despite all that, she felt happy for her, also happy that for a change, she's doing good, as much as she's denying it. Thus a small smile was formed on her mouth.

"I see… thank you."

"Speaking of which, where are Hoji and Mei?" Jiraiya asked, in which Chisato gave a super quick answer.

"Dating."

"What? ! That was quick!" Takeru said, surprised.

"Actually, no. They're just… witnessing the signing for the new Igrec movie's promotion." Chisato explained, "I… want to respect their decisions about relationship."

"We should. We can't force things up." Takeru also said, sternly. He became reminded with the relationship he had with Iyal. It was taken naturally, unlike Kiros who tried to force things out. He didn't know if the two would be an item, but so far, they're like best friends, brother and sister, and they seem fine with it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hoji and Mei were already out of the sign-in stadium. They were heading home to the teleportation spot to get back into Bonds, walking through a shore.

"I'm glad that the children's smiles returned." Mei muttered, "The last time I mentioned about Igrec, they were pretty sour. Now, it's all like 'I want to be like Igrec! Strong and kind!'."

"They're looking forward for the movie too." Hoji said, "Even adults are excited on it too. Looks like it will have to try on how to capture both sides of audience, adults and children. Though probably because they were grateful from that event."

"That's great! Which means, everyone can smile together!" Mei added, smiling, "Say, Hoji… when the movie's out, what do you think if we watch it together? With Takeru and the rest of course."

"Good idea. Jiraiya is a movie nut, he'll be looking forward to this." Hoji nodded, thinking back on how he learnt this incident in the first place. 'If Yukito and the rest of the Abarangers learn about this, I'm sure they'd be happy.'

However, their walk was interrupted with a strange gust of wind. "Huh? This wind seems unnaturally strong." Hoji commented. As the wind got stronger and stronger, it became a little harder for them to walk.

"What is this…!" Mei said as she tried her best to hold her ground. Then she heard a sound of a creature from the sky. "Eh?" As Mei looked above, she saw a gigantic creature flying to her. "Is that… Guardian Beast Pteranodon?"

However, the creature quickly dove in and knocked Hoji to the ground, and using its beaks, it grabbed Mei and flew off. "AAAH!" Mei's scream realized Hoji what's going on.

"Mei? ! MEI!" Hoji screamed, trying to chase her, but the creature already took flight. Pulling his SP Shooter, he tried shooting the creature, but to no avail.

"HOJI!" Mei called out his name, but the creature got farther and farther until it vanished from his sight.

'That white creature… I think I saw it somewhere…' Hoji thought as he tried to recall the creature. However, one thing he knew was that he was unable to stop the creature from kidnapping Mei. 'Mei...!' Hoji then fell to his knees and slammed the ground with his fist, and as he lamented his weakness, he yelled while looking upwards.

"_GOD DAAAAMMNN!_"

* * *

The creature took Mei straight onto the new Bandora Palace, using force field to prevent her getting out of air during flight, dropping her right into the entrance. "Isn't this Bandora's Castle…? !" She felt that she could breathe, perhaps by the oxygen brought by the base's surrounding. She then looked at the creature, "What are you doing with me? !"

"Be silent, human." The creature spoke, surprising Mei, "I'm only doing my part for him… gera."

'Huh? It spoke?' Mei was shocked at how the creature spoke, in a more casual way rather than how majestic the Daizyujin spoke. However, her moment was interrupted by several bolts trying to strike at her. Mei looked behind and saw Shibolena walking onto her. "You…!"

"So there you are, the one who Long wanted to see. Come quietly." Shibolena said, and behind her Gasha Dokuro was also walking.

"I won't submit to you!" Mei declared, pulling her bow, "I'm not going down with a fight."

"That's… useless, I'm afraid." Shibolena said, "You can go ahead and try to rebel, but nobody would be here to get you back to Earth. If you would like, you can face me, Gasha Dokuro, Lamie, Kiros and Abrellar, not to mention Long, in the same time, and you will only come out as a corpse." Hearing that, Mei was shocked. There was no way she could engage the six of them at once and winning.

"But if you just cooperate with us, then you may have a shot in surviving." Gasha Dokuro added, "So… what will it be?"

"I won't help you, no matter what." Mei said firmly.

"Oh, it's not cooperating as in helping us completely." Shibolena said, "We meant… become our prisoner."

"You…!" Mei gritted her teeth, "What are you planning to do with me? !"

"You'll see later. But remember, if you ever shoot that arrow, that means you chose to fight to the death and you'll never see any of your friends again." Gasha Dokuro said menacingly and it shocked Mei. He's right, if she died now, it's all over. Right now she had no choice. Dejected, she threw her bow and arrow to the ground.

"All right, you do as you please… for now."

"Very good." Gasha Dokuro said as he moved forward, "Now face behind! And put your hands behind!" Mei did so as eventually, Gasha Dokuro and Shibolena unleashed several ropes and proceeded to tie Mei on her wrists as well as her body in two places and tying her arms and body together. However, Gasha Dokuro still let out one whisper, "You're lucky the order is to keep you alive. I would love nothing more than to kill you right on the spot."

"Good job, you two." A voice was heard behind them and from there, Long approached them. "Ah, so you must be one of those Super Sentai that has been bothering me. Mei of the Risha Tribe, one of those… Zyurangers, aren't you?"

Mei was silent. Just by her first encounter with Long alone made her realize what kind of evil man he was. Long continued by getting close to her, "Hmph, you're quite the beauty. But it will do no good against me. Although I do appreciate your look. Heh heh…"

"Keep your praises somewhere else, I don't need it." Mei sternly answered.

"Your guts are admirable. But you shouldn't keep that." Long continued, "You'll start enjoying your stay here. Take her away… to the prison." As Long commanded, both Gasha Dokuro and Shibolena grabbed Mei on her arm and walked together inside the base. However, Mei looked back and gave Long one last reply.

"I won't be here for long. My friends… they'll come and get me."

"Heh. The last time I heard someone saying that, it was actually the reverse. 'My love won't come for me' or stuffs like that. It's getting ironic." Long said, recalling the previous moment he did a similar thing to Mele. He then turned to the creature. "Well… a good job well done. Now keep on stand by until I call you again."

"Infinite Dragon… don't get so cozy." The creature still gave a daunty voice even to Long, "I am not your servant, and never will be. I am on my own, gera." Even the creature also thought his next plan, 'I hope putting up with this… creature would bring me closer to that goal… your return… I don't have much time.'

"Heh, as expected from you. I can't control you after all." Long smiled, "In that case, may as well enjoy our alliance while it lasts… Top Galer."

* * *

As Hoji continued to kneel down, unable to get up, suddenly a female voice called him. "You're Tomasu Hoji, am I correct?"

"Huh?" Hoji looked behind and saw a woman dressed in pink, "You're… how do you know me?"

"I heard that you're a friend of Aira Tekkan." The woman answered, "I never thought I'd meet you here."

"Tetsu? How do you know him?" Hoji asked once more as he finally got back on his feet.

"We fought together once." The woman continued.

"Who're you? I don't really know you. You look a little suspicious, knowing my name and all." Hoji still refused to let out more secrets. Finally, however, the woman stated her identity.

"Member of the SGS Foundation. My name is Nishihori Sakura."

'Nishihori… Sakura…? !' Hoji recalled that name while reading that name through the History of Super Sentai book. She was in fact, one of the Super Sentai members, part of GoGo Sentai Boukenger, as Bouken Pink.

What was Sakura doing here? And what would happen to Mei, imprisoned by the enemy? And what was the deal that Long made with the Bakuryuu Top Galer? And by that means, how did Top Galer himself came back from the dead? The mystery deepened for the next chapter of the Super Sentai…

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: And that's the end of the chapter, and probably a beginning of a multi-chapter arc. And yes, these are some sort of a sequel to the 8th episode of Abaranger with that Ultraman lookalike monster. I feel kinda sad that the episode kinda ends on a sad note that the Ultraman lookalike that the monster impersonated seemed to be lost in the heart of the children, fallen as a phony, so I decided to make up for it and restore it to its glory. I never follow the Ultra Series that much, but Ultraman is awesome!

Also if you do follow Ultraman, you'll see that today's monster is heavily based on one of Ultraman's most famous enemy, the Zetton/Z-Ton.

At any rate, the seemingly happy-go-lucky episode seems subverted at the end when Mei ends up kidnapped, don't hold it against her (or me), please. And the kidnapper turns out to be Top Galer, so I guess you now know who's the last guy. He's not gonna make an appearance soon, but he will.

And aside of that, there's also the appearance of Boukenger's Sakura. She probably will take the similar role of Yuusuke from the first team, but I think she's going to be more active. At any rate, I hope you'll come and review this chapter well! Thanks!


	15. The Shadow Falls

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Thus far this seems to be the longest chapter I've had in the while. And it's a two-parter too. Hopefully, this does not degrade the quality of the chapter. Enjoy!**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 15: The Shadow Falls**

* * *

After visiting a signing-in for the upcoming Igrec movie, while walking home, Hoji witnessed a slightly familiar creature which looked like a Pteranodon dinosaur, kidnapping Mei in front of his eyes. As he just recovered, he immediately encountered a woman named Nishihori Sakura, who seemed to know him. She was in fact one of the members of the GoGo Sentai Boukenger, as Bouken Pink.

"So… what is the SGS doing here?" Hoji asked as he walked together with Sakura, "The rest of the Boukengers are all members of the SGS, am I right?"

"Indeed. However, I am currently alone." Sakura noted, "I have something to discuss with your leader. Deka Master, isn't it?"

"Boss? No, he's not here. However, if it's 'leader' you speak of…" Hoji continued, "I can introduce you to him… Takeru."

'Takeru…! So it's like what he said…' Sakura realized something, recalling what happened in the past. She was preparing to head for another adventure along with her superior and crush, Akashi Satoru… until a similar quake occurred and she was separated from Satoru. Arriving in a rather weird world, she seemed to be united under one different team by a certain someone who claimed to be an acquaintance of Aka Red. She didn't remember the majority of her time, but she did remember one crushing defeat and one mighty blast that separated them all, with the last words seemingly coming from Aka Red himself that they should seek a warrior named 'Takeru'. And it was at that time she arrived in this world, now seemingly alone.

"I'd like to meet this Takeru." Sakura continued, asking for an offer, "There is something I must do."

"Fine with me, but don't forget we're having another dilemma, if you did saw what happened." Hoji said, dejected. He was reminded with how he failed to protect Mei, resulting her kidnapping, "One of our friends was just kidnapped."

"I see. I'll try not to bother too much." Sakura nodded, agreeing. However, suddenly, she tackled Hoji down to the ground, protecting him from an ensuing explosion. As they got up, several of the Dorodoros soldiers started surrounding the two.

"Youkai Corps…!" Hoji said as he prepared his SP License, "I'd like to make this quick. Can you transform?"

"Yes, I can." Sakura said as she took out her Accellular while she stood back to back with Hoji, "I do not know who sent these soldiers, but I won't let them harm myself or you. Let's do it, then. _Ready._"

"Good. _Change Standby._" Hoji said as he eventually initiated his transformation, along with Sakura.

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**BOUKENGER! START UP!**"

As the two transformed, they eventually began to fight against the horde of Dorodoros soldiers. What would Gasha Dokuro be plotting by sending these soldiers off?

* * *

"Ah!" Pushed into a prison cell, Mei was dropped into the ground by Lamie.

"Heh, I had hoped that I could've done this during our first battle." Lamie said, remembering how many times Mei had thwarted her plans along with the Zyurangers, "Just stay there, helpless as you are!" As Lamie laughed haughtily and locked the prison bars, Mei could only look at her leave, defiantly. She tried to stay calm.

'Maybe there is a trick like before… let's try it.' She then took a deep breath, and tried to relax, despite her hands bound behind her and her body tied with her hands. She hoped that the trick from the previous incident would work… but then she realized that it wasn't working. 'So they used a normal one this time…'

Her hand started to itch, forcing her to squirm and struggle, aside of trying to scratch, she hoped that it would snap the ropes, but she was bound tightly. "Ugh…" She grunted as she struggled, although she's keeping an eye open. Just in case there was something sharp she could use… but apparently the prison was pretty clean. 'Were they thinking all this?'

Shortly after, she heard a voice. It seemed to belong to Gasha Dokuro and something else.

"Master Junior, is it my turn yet? !"

"You seem to be in high spirit, huh, Tanuki."

"I've been briefed with the plan! So when is it that I get to go down there again? !"

"Well, whatever. In that case, go! But remember to where your loyalty lie, you hear me? !"

"Y-yes sir!"

'Go down there…?' Mei thought as she overheard all that. Recalling what Shibolena said to her that there would be no way out, she finally came to a conclusion, 'Perhaps… there is a way. They can't just jump from the space like that.'

"Human." Mei suddenly heard a voice. It came from the outside and when she looked through the prison bar, she saw Top Galer's head from there, "Is this all you can muster… gera?"

"What is it do you want?" Mei asked in a not-so-kindly note. She still didn't take this creature taking her here well, "Are you here to just taunt me?"

"Not really, gera." Top Galer said, "If you're similar like him, you won't just stay like this. And I don't mean that Infinite Dragon, gera."

"Him? Infinite Dragon?" As it was the first time she heard of such term, Mei was confused.

"You have no idea? Well I'll make it short, gera. He's the blonde man that had you captured." Top Galer just answered. It shocked Mei that from the tone of the Burstosaur's voice, it seemed that he didn't like Long at all.

"Why are you serving him? You don't seem to like him." Mei asked.

"Not much choice. My time is limited here, and there is something I must do, gera." Top Galer answered, "My real target was you, gera." Hearing that, Mei gasped and stepped back from the window, "I needed a sample of power that lies within your body. Bloodline power, perhaps…"

"Risha Tribe's power, you meant." Mei noted.

"I don't know how you Another Earthling called it, but in my Dino Earth it is a sacred power that held immense power enough to bring someone back from the dead, gera." Top Galer answered. The term 'Another Earth' and 'Dino Earth' puzzled Mei, but she finally understood what he meant.

"Did you lose someone beloved? I'm… sorry to hear that." Mei said, hanging her head low.

"It's none of your business, gera. But in a nutshell, I'm trying to bring a friend back." As Top Galer said that he started raising his wing, "When I put you on my beak, I've received enough power that I needed. The rest is up to you. Whether you will die a useless woman or prove yourself useful to your allies, it's all in your hands, gera."

"Wait!" Mei suddenly said, "At least please tell me your name!"

"Name, huh… Burstosaur Top Galer"

"I'm Mei. You're not such a bad creature after all, Top Galer." Mei finally was able to form a smile, knowing that the creature wasn't inherently evil, just very aloof. "Thank you."

"Mei… Farewell." As Top Galer said that, he leapt and started flapping its wings, flying throughout the space. It didn't leave as his alliance with Long was still valid.

'He's right, though. I cannot give up here. If it's true that there is a way to teleport me back to Earth, I have to find it! But first I have to get out of here.' Mei thought once more as she started looking around, no longer dwelling in despair. However, even after looking further, she still found nothing. 'Ugh. This doesn't work…! Oh well, I guess I'll use another method.'

* * *

Minutes later…

"Aaah… Aaaah!" Suddenly Mei started to fall on the ground, screaming and writhing in pain, "Help…! It… it hurts…!"

And by luck, Kiros was passing by. Looking at Mei, he instead just got to the door and yelled, "Quiet!"

"I… I'm sorry… but… I think I got a food poisoning…" Mei weakly said. As Kiros looked, she did sweat a lot, though he didn't know she made it by rolling around a lot and struggling to produce such sweat. "It… it hurts…"

"Ah… damn it!" Kiros said in annoyance as he immediately opened the door. "That Long wants you alive, not dead. So you better be grateful here! Here, I got an antidote."

"Thank you…" Mei weakly said as she started to take a sitting position. When Kiros was about to open the bottle, however, she reacted differently. "Not!" Raising her legs, she delivered a kick right onto Kiros' groin.

"Urgh! You…!" Kiros said, holding his crotch. But at this rate, Mei immediately got up, leapt to the prison wall, kicked it and landed in a kneeling position, locking his neck with her legs. "Urgh… what the hell is this… all white…" As Kiros was closing his eyes when all that happened, he didn't realize what just happened, and not knowing that he just got a sight on Mei's panties.

"FORGET IT!" Mei yelled as she used all her might to flip herself backwards and smashed Kiros right on the head to the floor, rendering him unconscious. She was about to pick up his scythe and use it to untie herself, but at that moment she heard sounds of footsteps, so she decided to run for the moment.

It didn't take long for her to eventually reach a door big door within a hallway. However, at that moment, she was surrounded by Lamie and Shibolena. "Mei, you're always the sneaky one, aren't you." Lamie commented.

"I told you. You wouldn't keep me very long." Mei stated, "One way or another."

"Get back to your cell. Or we'll have to kill you." Shibolena once again stated.

"Can you, really?" Suddenly Mei beckoned, "Your leader wanted me alive. You really would go against his words? Besides… you seem very eager to protect this room. I wonder why… could it be that it's a room used to transport yourself to Earth?"

Freezing for a second after realizing that Mei deduced her covering well, Shibolena eventually leapt in and tried to attack Mei with her sword, "How dare you!"

In the same time, Lamie also attacked, although she was saying different thing, "Don't you dare think we're bowing our heads like that to that blonde bastard!"

However, despite being tied, Mei still had the strength in her and continued to dodge both of their attacks. Occasionally, she had to launch several kicks too, until eventually both dark ladies were away from the door and Mei was able to kick it with all her might, forcing it open. A portal was located there. 'There it is!' She ran towards it, knowing that freedom was near…

But suddenly a bat passed through her. Pausing a bit in shock, Mei was too late as eventually the bat called in a swarm and flew around her, disrupting her movement, "Ah! Please move!" In the midst of being disrupted by bats, Mei suddenly saw a golden light heading to her. The light turned into a fist as it punched her in the shoulder and knocked her to the wall.

"You did pretty good trying to escape like that, even when tied up, you still nearly made it." The golden light suddenly took form, into Long, "Too bad I already anticipated that."

"Long…!" Mei was about to get up, but the bat gathered in one place and formed into Abrellar, causing her to halt her acts as she knew Abrellar would be ready to thwart her, and she was in no position to form a counterattack.

"So, we just thwarted her escape. What now?" Abrellar asked as eventually both Lamie and Shibolena entered the room, with Lamie holding her sword on Mei's neck, "Why do you even need her alive?"

"I still need her for some… things. Demoralizing the Super Sentai being one of them." At Long's words, Mei was shocked. She knew she was going to be used as a hostage to demoralize her friends. But what other things was he planning on her, that demoralizing was merely 'one of' his plans?

* * *

In the meantime, both Deka Blue and Bouken Pink have been holding off against the swarm of Dorodoros. However, in a sudden, there was a sword thrown into the two. In particular, it hit Deka Blue on the head. "ARGH!" Deka Blue ended up staggering behind as the sword was stuck on his helmet.

"Oh dear… Are you OK? !" Bouken Pink, worried, got near him and helped him to stand on his feet. She looked at the direction where the sword was thrown, "Who's there? !"

"I am." It was answered by a weird creature which looked like it had a red sword sticking out behind its back, blue chest and yellow pants. "So is it time for introductions? In that case… I am the Tsukumogami of Dark Shadow, Sasuegami! You two… I have a request. Die for me."

"Dark Shadow… they're on the move again…" Bouken Pink noted. The Dark Shadow was one of the Negative Syndicates, but while they were too much into thievery, none of them was really malevolent in nature compared to the other Syndicates, the malevolent one died. But even so, this Tsukumogami looked different, "I won't let anyone die. Not on my watch." She then pulled out a certain gun from her back… her weapon, the Hydro Shooter.

However, before she could shoot, she saw Deka Blue grabbing the sword stuck on his head and ripped it away. "Narrowly missed the eye." He said, tossing the sword downwards, "You're going to pay for that."

"Oh, really." Sasuegami just said in a deadpan tone. Seeing that as a bold challenge, Deka Blue just nodded to Bouken Pink while holding his D-Sniper. Both of them stood back to back and started shooting any Dorodoros that approached them. In the end, both of them aimed to Sasuegami and prepared to shoot.

"I'll make this quick… D-Sniper Set!"

"Aqua Shoot!"

Both fired a high-powered bullet and a high powered water shot. However, suddenly Sasuegami threw a black ring and it suddenly transformed to a round shield that blocked both shots perfectly.

"_What!_" Deka Blue said in shock, "Where did that shield come from? !"

"We'll have to find a way to take it down. Looks like the two of us will not be enough." Bouken Pink also noted, although both never let their stance down.

"Heh. So this is all you got?" Sasuegami said as he moved forward, "You really bore me."

"No. Look behind you!" Suddenly a man's voice was heard and when Sasuegami looked back, Ninja Black, Mega Yellow and Mele already leapt and launched a flying kick to him. His reflex was quick enough to point his shield to them, deflecting their attacks, but he didn't expect Red Mask to already dash towards him and punched him on the stomach with God Hand, which caused him to be knocked away.

"_Hey! _Hoji! You OK? !" Ninja Black said as he approached Deka Blue, "What happened to your helmet?"

"Nothing big. I'm not harmed." Deka Blue tried to reassure him. But on the other hand, Mega Yellow was looking at Bouken Pink.

"Whoa, Mei. I never thought that the Zyurangers could change their combat costumes." Mega Yellow commented, all while Bouken Pink look confused.

"Mei? Zyuranger? You're mistaken. I'm…" Before Bouken Pink could finish, however, she saw danger coming ahead and suddenly pushed Red Mask away, "Watch out!" As she finished, she was stabbed with a thrown sword, right on shoulder "AH!"

"H-hey! You OK? !" Red Mask asked, looking at how the sword stuck in Bouken Pink's shoulder area. However, even so, she also did what Deka Blue did, pulling the sword away, even if she was in pain.

"I'm fine. Hit a little, but this is nothing…" Bouken Pink said.

"Hm, where have I heard that voice before… and that suit… it looked familiar." Mele wondered, seemingly thinking that Bouken Pink might be familiar to her, but when she looked at the side, she saw Sasuegami still standing there. "Want some more? !"

"This is only a greeting, Super Sentai. You will fail. The Comb will be mine." Sasuegami said, his tone suddenly changed a little. Before they could reply further, the Tsukumogami suddenly leapt away, leaving the six people, who eventually de-transformed.

"Comb?" Sakura noted, looking shocked, "Could it be about the Precious Kushinada's Comb?"

"Precious? Wait… first of all, who are you?" Takeru said, still not knowing what Sakura meant. The team also looked at her and with the exception of Hoji and Mele, they look puzzled.

"Hm… she looks different." Chisato noted, "Where did Mei go, I wonder?"

"Uh… that… I think I can explain when we get to a safer place." Sakura said as she looked at the team, slightly nervous.

* * *

"What? !" Once they arrived at Bonds and had Sakura explain who she was, everyone was in shock, "You're from another Super Sentai team? !" Takeru exclaimed.

"Yes. I am Nishihori Sakura, otherwise known as Bouken Pink of GoGo Sentai Boukenger." Sakura said sternly, "I'd say… it's nice to meet you."

"Ah, right. Manners." Jiraiya said as he offered his hand for handshake, "_I am Jiraiya, Ninja Black of _ Ninja Sentai Kakuranger." Just then, he realized he accidentally spoke in English and was in a bit of a shock.

"It's OK. I understand English." Sakura assured him, as Chisato was next to try introducing herself.

"Jougasaki Chisato, Mega Yellow of Denji Sentai Megaranger." Chisato said, "Nice to meet you, Sakura." The pink lady nodded as she was approached by the leader next.

"Takeru, Red Mask of Hikari Sentai Maskman. I guess you can call me the leader…" Takeru said, also shaking hand.

"Ah, you!" As she's finished shaking hand with Takeru, she looked at Mele, "Haven't we… met somewhere… Ah yes, during the fight with Pachacamac…" Sakura eventually recalled Mele, when she was possessed by the Cosmic Kenpo Master Pachacamac and led Satoru and eventually both Boukengers and Gekirangers into first a conflict then a battle against said master. As far as she could remember, Mele was once taken control by the kenpo master.

"So, you remember, huh?" Mele said, "Then I don't need to introduce myself."

"Um… Takeru, are you sure that she's your ally?" Sakura asked, a bit confused, as she hadn't realized Mele's redemption.

"Yes she is. She may have a dark, evil past… but the past remains the past." Takeru explained, "She's now a force of good with me."

"I see… that's a relief then, Mele." Sakura, glad to hear about her change of heart, moved to Mele and attempted a handshake. However Mele just scoffed off.

"Rather than dragging this up, shouldn't you be explaining about why you're here, instead of Mei?" Mele gave out a harsh, but to-the-point statement which brought everyone's tension back.

"Now that I think of it…" Chisato said and turned to the first person she'd ask for Mei, "Hoji, you were with her, right? Where did she go?"

"She's… kidnapped." Hoji said sadly, shocking everyone, "It's my fault. I'm sorry, everyone."

"No, you shouldn't blame yourself like that." Takeru said, "Don't think that Mei is dead. We will rescue her."

"Who kidnapped her again?" Jiraiya asked, "Was it Gasha Dokuro? Or someone else?"

"No, it's not any of those villains we encountered." Hoji shook his head, as he knew none of them recognized a gigantic white pteranodon-like dinosaur. He finally realized that it was that creature that they met during their battle alongside the Abarangers… a Burstosaur. 'I think that creature was related to that… 'strong ally' they mentioned. But what is he doing here…?'

"The Dark Shadow wouldn't specifically kidnap someone like this. It's not… Ugh…? !" As Sakura spoke, suddenly she felt a tremendous pain and clutched her shoulder, in particular the place where she's stabbed.

"Sakura!" Takeru was near her and tried holding her and keeping her together, "You all right? !"

"Aaah!" Sakura screamed as suddenly something bursted out of her body. It was actually a very small device, so the wound wasn't that fatal.

When Hoji investigated what came out, he realized something. "This looks like something that can be plugged into the computer. Maybe there is a data or message…" As Hoji said that, he plugged the device into the computer, which surprisingly fitted in a slot of the computer. As they opened the device, it seemed to contain an executable file. Scanning it, it didn't find any virus, thus they safely opened the file… which suddenly made the screen black, and Long's face appeared there.

"Hello there, Super Sentai. I see Abrellar's device got to you." Long said smirking.

"Who're you? ! And how did you put that device in my body? !" Sakura asked as she didn't take having her body used to store such thing quite well. Likewise, during the conflict with Pachacamac, Long has yet to make himself known to public.

"Long…!" Mele was gritting her teeth in the mere sight of Long.

"Ah I see you've been well. Well if you remember the sword that stabs your shoulder…" Long's answer made Sakura finally realize what happened, the sword was used to plant the device into her body. Then she realized that he could've put it in somewhere else, "I mean I know I could just give it to you, but I think having it pop out from your body would be more fun. Well, was it painful?"

"Urrgh…!" In a short while, Sakura already found herself hating Long for such notion.

"We don't want anything from you." Takeru said as he was about to turn off the monitor. However, Long stopped him in time.

"You wouldn't like it if you turn the program off." Abrellar, who was next to Long, said, "Yes, if you didn't notice, this isn't a pre-recorded message. We're doing it live. What you're seeing is what's happening in our place."

"As expected from a black market merchant like you." Hoji said, "But we still don't need anything from you. You're wasting your time if you came only to taunt."

"No, actually we've got a proposal…" Long said, but then he saw Hoji trying to turn off the application again, "Hold up, don't you care about your friend if you turn this off?"

"Friend…? !" Jiraiya said angrily and guessed, "Where is Mei? !"

"Right over here." As Abrellar said that, he snapped his finger. Shibolena, who was nearby pulled a lever on the wall and suddenly the ceiling opened and a figure was dropped from the ceiling… but didn't even touch the ground. In fact, this figure, which was actually a girl, was suspended on the ceiling, her body, arms, legs were tied, and apparently her mouth was also gagged. To make matters worse… this figure was really Mei.

"Mei, is that you? !" Chisato yelled, worried with what happened to Mei, "No way… how did this…!"

"Nng…!" Mei nearly spoke, but at that moment, both Lamie and Gasha Dokuro appeared and pointed their swords crossed in front of her neck.

'So he allied with Long…! That accursed creature…!' Hoji thought, bitter after realizing on where that creature's allegiance belonged to.

"Yes, imagine if I have to beat this girl up to death just because you cut off our communication." Long said triumphantly, "You don't even know a way to reach our base here so even if you try to reach her, she's already dead. Of course if you feel like this world has no need of one with such high-pitched and screeching voice…"

"That's not funny!" Jiraiya yelled, "Let her go, _bastard!_"

"Ooh scary." Long said, chuckling, "Regardless, let's get to the point. I want you to retrieve a Precious."

"Precious? ! You knew of them…? !" Sakura said in shock.

"Yes. In particular the Kushinada's Comb." Long stated as he looked at the tied Mei and approached her, "Just like her, we're… a little tied up with other things. So we'll have you get it for us. Of course, should you refuse, something worse than this could happen." As Long suddenly finished the sentence, he raised his legs and kicked Mei on the stomach, and in a quick moment, he started rapidly kicking her.

"Mei!" Hoji called out, and eventually grumbled, "So you made it that we cannot say 'no', huh… You cheating bastard…!"

"Nnngg! Mmmh!" Despite being kicked around, Mei still tried to tell them not to give in to Long's demands, shaking her head. But all it did was just more kicks on Long, and he even put one kick to her face too.

"One word and I'll stop kicking her. What will it be?" Long said, in a smug and victorious tone, knowing that they'll be gang-pressed.

"Yes. Fine… We'll get it." Takeru said, defeated, and at that moment, Long stopped his kicking, "Where is the comb?"

"Ah, that. Your new friend over there should know. You better hurry, though…" Long said, grinning, "The thieving Dark Shadow is also after the comb. It's a race. If they get it instead of you, you wouldn't imagine what would happen to this friend of yours, would you? Ha ha ha ha…" As Long laughed triumphantly, the screen blacked out, leaving the team with one new mission.

"_God damn!_" Hoji slammed his fist to the table as he get up, "Now we're just playing right to his hands! If only I was more careful…"

"Sakura, what is the Kushinada's Comb anyway?" Takeru, once again his voice becoming serious, looked at Sakura, "What would Long gain from that if he even had to capture Mei for it?"

"Kushinada's Comb… is one of the two Preciouses that would open the rumored gateway to afterlife called 'Sheol'." Sakura explained, "Or at least that's what the database said. But if that man already knew its existence, he must've known the location of Sheol and the other Key."

"And the other key is… wait." Jiraiya was about to say something, but suddenly stopped awhile, before eventually continuing, "Right now it doesn't matter what the other Precious is! When they say they're a bit tied up for the moment… that's not just for pun. They're trying to get it while we take the Comb!"

"Weird that they didn't order us for that instead, but that doesn't matter. We have to do it." Chisato said in determination and worry, "Mei's safety depends on this one!"

"But you didn't ask Long to let her go if you ever did get that Precious." Mele's words made the Super Sentai realize that they just missed out something, "This ends up becoming a useless goose chase that benefits nothing to us and just serves to empower him."

"What did you say? !" At that moment, Hoji was angered and approached Mele and yelled, "What do you view Mei as? ! If we don't do this, what do you think will happen to her? ! Let's hear it, then! From someone who knew that bastard the longest!"

"Pipe down, damn it!" Mele protested as well, "I didn't say I'm not going to do it! It's a useless thing for us, I know. But I'll still do it."

"… Oh." Hoji sighed, relieved that at least Mele wasn't backing down.

"Even if it's useless and only serves to empower them… we're prolonging Mei's safety." Takeru explained, "We'll get that comb, and then we can still think of how to save her. It's all over if she's dead! Sakura, can you pinpoint the location of the Kushinada's Comb?"

"Right away. Can I borrow the computer for a bit?" Sakura then asked Hoji for permission, in which he nodded. Opening the site of SGS, she tried to read the entry about Precious Kushinada's Comb. Finally she found the answer, "Over here…" She said as she pointed to a mountainous area in Kamakura region. She typed some words and had the machine print a map, "Here's the map just in case we got lost."

"Good. We should hurry, or the Dark Shadow, or whatever it is, will get ahead of us!" Takeru called onto his team and they all nodded in agreement.

* * *

Meanwhile at a certain woods, a rather weirdly-dressed kunoichi was walking carrying a map. This kunoichi was wearing a majorly blue garb with some feathers put in, along with a rather non-ninjaish helmet. "Erm… so according to the map, there should be a turn to the right here in which I will meet a waterfall…" She mumbled as she looked at a map she's holding.

She looked to the right, but found no waterfall, but a big tree. "But why is there no waterfall here? ! And I've been doing this for hours! I tried looking for hidden objects but nothing was found!"

"Well the only conclusion is that it's a fake map or something." She said as she sighed, sitting down on the ground… until eventually she re-read the map again. "Wait a minute, didn't Gekkou-sama said 'The real map has a seal'? Well, this map has none anyway."

There was a silence afterwards, until eventually she realized what was going on. She then looked up and after taking a deep breath, she screamed with all her might from her lungs.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Back in the enemy base, once the screen was turned off, Long looked around, and noticed something off. "And… where would Kiros be?" Indeed. Amongst the villains, Kiros was strangely absent.

"He's still knocked unconscious. Last we saw him was inside the prison, lying there." Shibolena answered, and then looked at Mei, "Probably she's the one who caused it!" With that, she swung her sword onto Mei's neck, barely stopping near her neck.

"But she was supposed to be tied like that…" Abrellar noted, "I suppose tongue itself can be a dangerous weapon. Should've silenced her earlier like this."

"Impressive that you could've do things like that." Long said as he waved his hand, telling Lamie, Gasha Dokuro and Shibolena to put down their sword and he approached Mei, "I like it."

'This… creep! What is he planning? !' Mei thought, looking at Long, she knew that his evil desire greatly covered his good looks. She didn't want to look that submissive so she still tried to struggle occasionally hoping that she would find an opening between the ropes that bound her. But when she tried to swing her legs, she noticed that Long had his hand ready to knock her legs away in case she tried to kick him.

There was an awkward silence as Long looked at her for about a minute… until suddenly he leapt and delivered a chop, cutting the ropes that left her hanging on the ceiling. Mei fell down to the ground kneeling. "Mmm!" She yelped in pain a little, but that was slightly short lived as Long then started holding her chin.

"I have a proposal for you." Long said as he looked at Gasha Dokuro. The skeleton nodded and pulled out something from his back… a black arrow. "You see this arrow? I want you to shoot it to someone. With your sacred bow." Mei let out a muffled gasp, but couldn't do anything but let Long explain, "The Kushinada Comb was one of the keys to Sheol, and the other key is… the Garment of Kushinada. Like its namesake as the sacrificial princess used to lure the serpent Orochi, those two items would attract a great creature of evil, thus I can tame it."

'And you'll use it against the humans… You…!' Mei drew the only conclusion as her look towards Long became sharper.

"It is in possession of the Dark Shadow group, in particular their leader Maboroshi no Gekkou. It just looked like an owl, but it held immense power. This is where you come in." Long said as he took the arrow and held it in front of Mei, "With this arrow imbued by the power of darkness by the devilish Youkai, and the sacred power of light provided by your Risha Tribe… you will create a potent force above light and darkness, enough to kill Gekkou."

"Mmmmff! Mmmmnng! Hnnrrmmph!" Mei violently shook her head, stating her refusal. She wouldn't take another life that unnecessarily, especially if it's Long's request.

"Know your place, Mei! This is your only chance to escape, or you'd rather rot here?" Lamie noted, "The second choice goes fine by me though."

"Oh, then I guess you won't mind seeing your friends die." Long's words finally made Mei gasp in terror. She let out a short muffled voice asking why, and Long continued, "You see, I've sent a disguised Youkai to your team and I heard he managed to hit two of your allies with his curse. I suppose it's the blue one and apparently another pink. You must be that unloved that you're immediately replaced."

"Nnng!" Mei shook her head. One head shake and she was talking about two things. One, she knew he's lying about her being unloved. She knew they'll try to rescue her. Two, she was actually worried. The blue one referred to Hoji. And she wondered what kind of curse was inflicted on him.

"Well if you refuse, I guess I can activate the curse. That is, his body will heat up in such quick rate that he will turn into what can be called… a human bomb." Long said casually, "And the radius of the explosion would catch up a huge part of humans. Their screams would at least be good lullabies." Hearing that, Mei grew to hate Long even further, clenching her fist and gritting her teeth, but unable to do anything. Until eventually Long continued with something, "But since you don't seem to be in a cooperative mood, I guess I'll gather my lullabies now."

"Mmmm!" Mei shook her head, her face completely became worried.

"What's that? So you do want to accept the offer after all?" Long goaded at her, closing his head to hers. Mei could do nothing, but to be silent, thinking of her choice again.

'I'm playing right onto his hand… I don't know what he plans with these Kushinada things… but everyone's life was at stake…! If I don't do this… Takeru… Hoji… Jiraiya… Chisato… everyone will…! I… I have no choice…' Eventually, after a bit of a silence, she nodded.

"So you'll accept?" Long asked once more as he closed his head to hers, and Mei just nodded slowly, "Well am I glad to know that. Thank you for being cooperative, Mei." Long said with patronage and nodded to Lamie. With that, she started untying Mei and removed her gag as Long handed down the dark arrow. "Remember, if you fail your mission or try to do anything funny, your friend's life and many people will die. You look into my eyes… and see if I'm lying."

Mei did so and looked to Long's eyes. She was hoping that at least she'll spot something mischievous on him so he sounded like he was bluffing. But she couldn't. Long was totally serious. "And if I see my friends dead… killed by you… Then I will hunt you down until you're dead." Mei said coldly. It's not like her to use such harsh words, but for someone like Long, she'd make an exception.

"I look forward to that… but again, these all depends on your actions." As Long said that once again he turned towards Lamie, "Accompany her. You already know the hideout of Gekkou, since I and Abrellar searched that. And report to me any misconduct."

"Very well." Lamie said as she gestured to Mei, who came to her, "Follow me…"

* * *

Meanwhile, back into the real world, the team already went ahead to the mountainous area where the Kushinada Comb was located. The team had to climb on the mountain with their own hands. Eventually, they made it to the top, with Sakura coming in first.

"Do you really do this all the time?" The second one who came on top, Takeru, asked.

"If that's what it takes to recover the Precious." Sakura said, "While walking here, you did feel the thrill of adventure as well, right?"

"Somehow, yeah." Takeru nodded, but his face became stern, "But this is not just one thrill I'm feeling… something else is giving me another chilling thrill."

"I know." Sakura nodded. He must've been talking about Mei. "This Mei… may I ask what kind of person is she?"

"Well if I have to say." The third one who made it to the top, Jiraiya, answered the question, "She's a kind girl. Innocent and pure at heart, but a tough nut to crack."

"She may be a little naïve but she's a good girl through and through." Chisato added, who's fourth place, "That's why no matter what we have to save her."

"… Well, I guess you all said what I wanted to say…" The fifth person to get up there, Mele, also added, "She has some sort of… comforting aura and feeling around her. Not sure if that's what it's called… But I guess I can call her a good friend… though not as high as Rio-sama of course."

"I see." Sakura nodded, smiling at Mele, which startled her a little.

"What's with that smile?" Mele asked.

"It seems that for her to even make you grow respect on her must've meant that she's an integral member of your team." Sakura nodded, "Now I know why you want to save her badly."

"What's that supposed to mean? !" Mele said, a bit irritated, "I mean, if it's anyone else here… Erm…"

"Don't worry, I know how you'd like to continue it." Takeru added, "You'll do the same. Because we're friends… right?"

"Ugh…" Mele was silent hearing that, unable to come up with a remark to show her aloofness, "I guess. After all, you're all… people I can stand with."

"Always the aloof one, huh. Anyways, is everyone here?" Chisato asked, looking around, "Um… where's Hoji?"

"Now that I think about it, something's weird about him…" Jiraiya said, thinking about the recent events, "Even before we climbed, he's been saying something about his head hurting a little. Maybe…"

"Ah…!" As Sakura looked at the cliff, she saw a hand trying to climb there. It seemed that Hoji just arrived a little late, "We've been waiting for you." Sakura noted as she approached him.

"Just a… little bit… more…" Hoji tried to reassure himself, but suddenly he felt a stinging pain onto his head, causing him to lose balance and nearly fell. "Whoa!"

"Hoji!" Sakura was quick enough to react and grabbed Hoji's hand, "Don't let go!"

"Sakura… _thank you_." Hoji said, although he's struggling to grab something to be able to hold on his own. Sakura tried to pull him all by herself, but it didn't take long for Takeru and the rest to grab Sakura on her arms, and helped her pull Hoji up.

"Hoji, you OK?" Jiraiya asked, looking at him, "You're not feeling well, huh?"

"I'm fine." Hoji said, holding his head.

"There you go again. I've been seeing you acting like this." Jiraiya said, "What's with your head?"

Hoji sighed as he couldn't hide it anymore. "There's been a pain in my head lately… but I don't know what caused it." He said, clutching his head, in particular the part near his head, the one where Sasuegami nearly stabbed him. It felt really hot that he's sweating all over it.

"Hoji, if you're not feeling well, then…" Chisato tried to assure him. However Hoji shook his head.

"I'm fine. Whatever this pain is… I know Mei must've been suffering even worse. I can't just sit here knowing that!" He said with full of determination. Takeru acknowledged it and nodded, but at that moment, several kunai was thrown to the ground, catching the team by surprise. When they looked at the direction where they came from, they saw several Dorodoros, as well as Shizuka and Sasuegami.

"What? ! There are competitors? ! Urrrgh!" Shizuka pouted as she witnessed the team on there, "Well, I only see one Boukenger here. So… welp, doesn't matter! That comb is as good as mine!"

"We won't let you, Dark Shadow!" Takeru said, but he then suddenly stopped as he was slightly confused, "Um, what's your name again?"

"Haah? ! You don't know me? !" Shizuka said in surprise, "Well, fine, then let me tell you! The one and only, the beautiful kunoichi of Dark Shadow, Kaze no Shizuka, here!"

"Well I guess I'll be sticking with you for… that. We have to get that comb." Sakura said, also clutching her shoulder which was also the shoulder that was previously stabbed.

"You OK?" Takeru asked, "It's getting like what Hoji described…"

"I'm fine. Let us hurry and finish this!" Sakura insisted.

"Right, everyone let's go!" After Takeru nodded, he put his fist forward as he yelled, signaling the team to begin the fight. Everyone yelled their transformation words, except Mele, who got none.

"**AURA MASK!**"

"**EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!**"

"**SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!**"

"**INSTALL! MEGARANGER!**"

"…"

"**READY! BOUKENGER, START UP!**"

The five, after transformation, leapt through the formation of Dorodoros soldiers and lined up together.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"The Deep Sea Adventurer! Bouken Pink!"

"We are…!" At that moment, the team instead faced Shizuka and Sasuegami as they were about to declare themselves. However, Shizuka already knew their tricks.

"Oh yeah, this is gonna be when you'll be most vulnerable! OK, Dorodoros, attack!" Shizuka commanded as the Dorodoros behind the team leapt to attack them. However, the team did not falter and finished the role call anyway.

"**Super Sentai!**"

As such, an explosion occurred behind them, knocking away the advancing. Some of them even fell to the cliff that the Super Sentai climbed from. "Whoops." Was the only thing that came from Red Mask after witnessing that.

"Aagh, damn it! But I'm not giving up here!" As Shizuka said that, she looked at her back, in which an entrance to a cave was there. "Sasuegami! Hold them off, will you?" As she commanded, she ran off towards the cave.

"You're not getting away!" Ninja Black yelled as he leapt through Dorodoros soldiers and gave chase to Shizuka. Even the Sasuegami was not quick enough to stop the ninja. 'If I follow her, she may be taking me to the place where the comb is! Which should be in here!'

"We should follow him!" Red Mask noted as he pointed to the cave entrance. However, their path was blocked.

"Hold it right there. One man may have slipped, but only corpses may pass next." Sasuegami warned as the line of Dorodoros soldiers were blocking them.

"The only ones turning to corpses are you!" Mele beckoned as she dashed and made the first move, with the rest of the Super Sentai following suit and began battling the Tsukumogami and the Dorodoros soldiers.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the headquarters of Dark Shadow, which was hidden between several houses, two former rivals, Mei and Lamie approached. "You will hide behind this post… and aim for the blue colored owl."

"Ugh…" Mei grunted. She really didn't want to do it, but really didn't have a choice.

"You shouldn't do that if you don't want your friends dead." Lamie reminded, causing Mei to just nod and took her position.

'Forgive me, everyone…' Mei thought as Lamie spun and instantly disguised herself as Shizuka and entered the house…

"Shizuka! You have returned." Approaching the owl, Maboroshi no Gekkou, Lamie, in the guise of Shizuka, bowed down, "It is surprising that you returned."

"Well, um… I forgot something!" Lamie, trying to mimic Shizuka's energetic image, said, "Can I pick up something from my possession?"

"Well, be quick about it." Gekkou said, "Always this clumsy girl. But you're still like a granddaughter to me." Lamie then moved away slowly, as Gekkou continued to speak, "Shizuka… need I remind you why you need to be quick and precise in your task in getting the Precious?"

"Y-yes, Gekkou-sama?" Lamie answered, trying to sound so innocent.

"Because we need it for the revival of the Society of Shadow." Gekkou explained, "We were once proud ninjas. But as time changes, we were forced to adapt and changed into a group of thieves in order to survive. If we had enough income, we would be doing something more productive, just like the old days. Without thieving, training generations of ninja with honor…"

"That sounds nice, Gekkou-sama." Lamie said, still innocently, until she pulled her kunai and then pointed it to Gekkou's neck, and her voice returning to be cold and harsh, "But you won't live to see that day."

"Shizuka? ! What is this…" Gekkou was shocked, but while Lamie held her on the neck, he silently chanted several mantra, causing some shadows to strike on Lamie, knocking her to the wall and revealing her true self. "I knew it, you are not Shizuka. Well, what is it that you seek?"

"Something you kept inside your body." Lamie said as she also snapped her finger, "The key to one of your possessions, the Precious Garment of Kushinada!"

"You… knew about it! The only ones that knew about this are just I and Shizuka! How did you? !" Gekkou, shocked at the revelation, said, until he finally understood, "I see… so, not even I can hide everything from the Infinite Dragon."

"It seems that Long is very well-informed. But that doesn't matter. Now you die!" Lamie said as she rushed towards Gekkou. However, another chanting caused shadows to erupt and attack Lamie, preventing her to get near Gekkou.

However, while he chanted one more time, a black arrow was shot. It was a truly accurate shoot and pierced through the heart of Gekkou. "Guh! A… argh…" The owl coughed blood from his beak as there was white and black explosion happening around him. As he was losing strength, Gekkou gave out one last word… slowly as the breath of life was leaving his owl body, "S… Shi… zuka…"

And thus the owl fell to the ground, dead. Lamie picked his corpse up and used the stuck arrow to cut the owl's body open as Mei entered the room. "Well, here it is."

"A key? I thought we're talking about garment." Mei noted.

"The garment is held inside a special box." Lamie said as she got up, "I'll go pick it up."

Seeing Lamie left, Mei looked at the dead body of Gekkou. Even if she was unwilling to do it, she did kill the poor owl. She heard about Gekkou's plans as he revealed, and couldn't forgive herself to take away such life, even if it was necessary to save her friends. She picked up the corpse and hugged it as tight as she could, as several tears started to drop from her eyes on the dead body of Gekkou. "I'm sorry… please forgive me…"

Shortly after, Lamie entered, carrying a small box. "Here it is, the Garment of Kushinada." She said as she opened the box. As Mei wiped her tears and looked, she saw something surprising…

The garment was nothing like she expected, she thought it would be like a full kimono, but this looks nothing like it. It looked more like a garment similar to a bikini, colored in purple and had several gems put there as accessories to the clothes. There seems to be some small purple ropes, serving as more clothes for the crotch area, as well two tight golden bracelets seemingly designed for the arms. There seems to be a slightly long clothes, and if it's worn by a dancer, it's probably to be swung around as part of the dance's move. "Is this… supposed to be the Garment of Kushinada?" Mei even had to wonder why it looked like that.

"Don't ask, I am even surprised." Lamie was equally dumbfounded hearing that.

On the other hand, the golden bracelets started shining… and the clothes suddenly flew and latched onto Mei's body. "Ah! What in the world…!" Lamie only looked in confusion as Mei tried to pull the clothes away and a bright light started to engulf her. However, she stood in silence as if listening to something. Nodding, she held Mei on the shoulder as they both suddenly vanished.

Strangely, however, as the two vanished, several things were left behind… Mei's Ptera Arrow, Dino Buckler and her clothes, neatly wrapped on the floor.

* * *

Meanwhile, eventually after fighting for quite some time, Red Mask realized they didn't have much time. "We can't let Jiraiya do this alone! We have to assist, quick!"

"I'll clear a way. Everyone stay on guard. On my signal, jump." Bouken Pink said as she prepared her Hydro Shooter. The Parallel Engine of hers was channeling power to her weapon. For now, her GoGo Marine was nowhere in sight, but it seemed that its power ran through the world and could be accessed anytime. Eventually, the weapon was fully charged. "Now! Shooter Hurricane!" On her command, the rest of the Super Sentai jumped towards the cavern while Bouken Pink shot out a high wave of water from the Hydro Shooter, also towards the cave, wiping away several Dorodoros. She also spun, hitting nearly every of the Dorodoros and Sasuegami as well.

As the path was clear, Bouken Pink started running towards the cave. "Did you really think that's all the Dorodoros we have to offer? !" Sasuegami suddenly yelled as several more Dorodoros ran forward to block Bouken Pink's advance, considerably slowing her down, although anyone that dared get near her were cut down with her SurviBlade. However, she was not alone. Red Mask, Deka Blue and Mega Yellow were all also shooting the Dorodoros, preferring not to advance until she's safely with them.

Unfortunately, inbetween those shots, one of the shots managed to hit Sasuegami on his shield, and the shield deflected it upwards, causing several boulders from the top of a mountain to drop down. "Oh no!" Both Red Mask and Bouken Pink shouted in unison as they witnessed the dropping boulder causing a chain reaction that set up a small quake and as more boulders fell over, it separated Bouken Pink with the rest.

"Sakura! Sakura!" Mega Yellow yelled, worried at Bouken Pink's safety.

"I… I'm fine!" Outside, Bouken Pink tried to reassure her, while she was also fighting more Dorodoros and Sasuegami, "I'll catch up! You –" Her voice was temporarily cut off as Sasuegami managed to land a hit on her, " – Should just go ahead first!"

"Will you be fine by yourself? !" Deka Blue asked as well.

"I said I'm fine!"

"Wait a minute, where did Mele go?" As Mega Yellow realized, there was only the three of them. Mele has gone missing as well.

"I'm guessing she went inside…?" Red Mask said, "I guess she can get impatient… But we're not getting inside further without Sakura!"

"Don't be stupid like that! What if something happens to Jiraiya after all that? !" Bouken Pink also reminded once more, still fighting from the outside, "Don't let him become another Mei because of me! I'll be fine!"

"Urrgh…" Red Mask doubted his next course of action. Of course, he had to look for both Ninja Black and Mele. But he wondered if Bouken Pink alone would be fine. One thing got him to decide, though… when he heard a familiar voice.

"You're alone, huh? ! Well you're going down soon!" It was the voice of Gasha Dokuro. It seems that he would reinforce Sasuegami against Bouken Pink.

"That's it! You can't handle this alone!" Red Mask yelled as he prepared to rush to the outside, his fist ready. However, at that point, both Deka Blue and Mega Yellow noted that they heard cracking sounds from the above. They're not in a normal cave after all, the cavern-like entrance was to enter some sort of shrine. When they heard that, they saw Red Mask already rushing forward. "God Hand!" His fist shining, he was ready to punch the boulders. No matter the strength, one punch would destroy them all.

And it was at that moment both Deka Blue and Mega Yellow held him on the hands and suddenly dragged Red Mask deeper to the shrine. "Hey! What are you doing? ! Are you leaving Sakura behind? !" Red Mask protested as he was being dragged. But he quickly shut his mouth after he was around twenty meters away from the entrance… as a huge boulder, though not the same as the natural one blocking the entrance, was dropped in front of the entrance and they were on a pathway that was going down, in which the boulder was rolling down and if Red Mask were to destroy the blocking boulders, he would've been squished in instant. "Oh… right." Was the one comment he could say as the boulder started rolling and once Red Mask got back to his feet, he did the only natural thing to do along with Deka Blue and Mega Yellow.

Run away. As fast as they could.

* * *

In the meantime, Bouken Pink continued to fight against both Gasha Dokuro and Sasuegami. However, the two of them closed in, giving her less time to shoot with her Hydro Shooter, but she didn't give up, dodging while she can and shooting while the range was right, and if they got too close, she would bash them with her weapon. "Are you the one that was hired by the Dark Shadow for this theft? !" Bouken Pink asked in the middle of battle.

"Hah! You can actually say that, but that won't matter to you!" Gasha Dokuro explained as he tried slashing her with his sword, but she managed to dodge them.

"Aqua Shoot!" She exclaimed as she fired up a stream of high-pressure water shoot. This hit both Gasha Dokuro and Sasuegami, in which he didn't let the shield out in time. With this, he seemed to be genuinely freaking out.

"What? ! No! My… armor!" Sasuegami yelled, as at this point, his voice started to become strangely higher pitched, in contrast of his stoic attitude before.

'What was that supposed to mean…' Bouken Pink thought as she noticed the change of tone of the Tsukumogami. She then noticed something on Sasuegami's back. "Huh? That looks like… a tail?" She got no time to ponder as more Dorodoros soldiers surrounded her once more so she had to fight again.

"Why you…!" Gasha Dokuro got up first. He pointed his hand forward and using the gun attached on his hand, drawing power from the tubes on his back, he shot out a barrage of bullets that caught Bouken Pink by surprise, hitting her in several parts. Gasha Dokuro did not waste another time as he rushed forward and slashed her with his sword several times.

"AAAH!" The last slash sent Bouken Pink to the ground, rolling and eventually she was forcefully de-transformed as a result. She tried to once again get up, but was then unable to move as several Dorodoros surrounded her and pointed their swords to her neck. "Ugh…"

"You'll die. Soon enough." Gasha Dokuro said as he approached the downed Sakura, who looked at him, "I suggest you savor your last moments."

"Is that why you're not moving in for the kill immediately?" Sakura asked, still defiant and never wanted to look as if she was completely defeated, she was too fatigued to even strike back.

"I told you, it'll be a matter of time you'll die in a few hours or minutes." Gasha Dokuro boasted, "I don't even need this sword or these bullets to kill you!" He then gestured to the Dorodoros soldiers, who then picked up Sakura's body and took her away from her previous spot…

* * *

Meanwhile, Red Mask, Deka Blue and Mega Yellow were still on the run from the boulder. "She wouldn't want us dead, Takeru." Mega Yellow said while running, "For now, concentrate on surviving, finding Jiraiya and Mele, and the Precious!"

"I know, I know!" Red Mask continued to run as eventually they saw a light.

"Almost there! Just hope that there's nothing like a jet stream of flame coming from there!" Deka Blue encouraged as they saw a door. However, across that was some sort of hole. And once they got near, as was predicted, it shot out a jet of a flame, but luckily the three was able to jump to its side, dodging it.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Mega Yellow said sarcastically.

"At least we're now safe… for the moment." Red Mask said as he got up, "You two OK?"

"I'm fine." Deka Blue said as he got up. He looked at how the boulder stayed intact and realized one thing, "At this rate, there's just no turning back for the moment…"

"Yeah. Let's hope we can find some emergency exit alongside with the comb. Something like a crack on the ceiling we can get out from." Mega Yellow added, before she realized something. "Huh? Something's on my feet."

"Let me see…" Deka Blue said as he picked up that item on Mega Yellow's foot. It seemed shiny, but it was like a chip. "This is from SPD? What's it doing here?" Looking at the shape, it seemed like it was like a hard drive to insert data there. He put it on his SP License, and found out something when he activated the program inside. 'SWAT Mode, authorized and unlocked…? ! I guess I'll just have to keep this for awhile.'

"Hoji, what's wrong? Let's get going." Red Mask reminded him as he was preparing to enter deeper to the shrine. Deka Blue nodded and along with Mega Yellow, he followed Red Mask. However, for some reason, the pain in his head was stinging him even further.

* * *

"Nnng…" Sakura tried to mumble, but nothing but muffled mumbling came out. It appeared that she had been gagged, as she could feel some sort of cloth circled around her mouth. Typical of the Youkai, but she wondered what they meant with that. Hands securely put on her back and felt like they're tied with some sort of rope and it seemed that her hands were touching something rocky, which would mean she's being tied to a rock, sitting down with her legs also tied. And worse of all, her vision were all black. 'A blindfold? Is it because of something they refused to let me see?'

Sakura remembered that it seemed that the Sasuegami showed some sort of abnormality, something sticking out from his back. Aside of that, his voice pitch changed into something higher. It's like it's hiding something else.

"There, it's done. Next time, I'm not seeing any missteps like this!" She could hear Gasha Dokuro speaking.

"Yes, sir, I'm sorry, sir!" Followed by the high pitched voice of Sasuegami, until eventually the pitch became lower again, "Very well. It should be near the time until the Dorodoros removed those boulders."

'What did he mean my demise would come soon…' Sakura thought until she felt that something was stinging her pain. Her shoulders, which was hit back then from Sasuegami, was heating up, and it was getting to her whole body. "Nng… mff…" She grunted in pain a little, and struggled a bit as a reaction to the pain.

In a sudden, she felt that something was pulled from her… the blindfold. She could see again, and it was Gasha Dokuro and Sasuegami that was standing in front of her. "There is no escape. The moment you were hit with that was the moment of the death of you two."

"Mmm? !" Sakura was shocked. Two? And the other one would be…

"Yes… that sword throwing which stabbed you? It was a cursed sword given from that Long." Sasuegami said, "It turns the victims… into human bombs." Sakura gasped hearing it. All these could mean that she and Hoji were the human bombs.

"Hah! That's why I said I don't need my sword to kill you!" Gasha Dokuro said, "Long controls the curse, he can kill you anytime! Matters little to me, since you're not of the Kakuranger." At that time, a Dorodoros approached Gasha Dokuro and whispered something. "Oh! I see! Well it's time we claim the Comb for ourselves…"

"Of course. The child will fall like the Shadow she is." Sasuegami said callously.

"Nng? !" Sakura was shocked. She thought they'd at least cooperate with Shizuka, but they didn't seem to think highly of her. 'What was that Tsukumogami thinking? ! I thought they're loyal to Dark Shadow…? !' "Nnnnmmff! Hmmmmngg! Mmmff!" Sakura tried to call them out, but only muffled sounds came out and the two figures ignored her and just brought the Dorodoros soldier to enter the shrine.

Sakura sighed as she laid on the rock she's tied into. 'All tied up like this, unable to do anything… Chief… no, Akashi… if you're in this kind of situation… what will you do…?' Thinking about her crush, Akashi Satoru, the leader of the Boukengers as Bouken Red, Sakura finally remembered something. 'That's right. I cannot give up and just give in to the premise of me being dead. I have to free myself and retrieve the method to lift Long's curse! That Tsukumogami seems to have the answer… although it seems like it's not a Tsukumogami at all… Huh?'

When Sakura looked behind, she noticed something… her Accellular was still in place, on the pouch located on her arm. 'They forgot this…! They think tying me up and gagging me would prevent me to transform again… But in this kind of condition…'

Thus Sakura started wiggling and struggling against her bonds, as well as occasionally moving her head up and down from behind to the rock. The rock's surface wasn't all smooth. With luck, she would be able to loose the gag from her head. And if she struggled hard enough, the Accellular would fall to the ground, just like that time during her captivity when the Boukengers tried to find the Precious Kubi. Although this time, she could use her feet to press the necessary buttons and activate it…

* * *

Deep inside the shrine, there was an altar inside a big hall where the comb, which might look like an ordinary golden-colored comb, but was in fact the Comb of Kushinada. Rushing into the inside was Shizuka, who momentarily caught her breath heavily after a healthy dose of running. "Huff puff… the life of a ninja is a hard one indeed." She finally restored her breath and returned to her cheery self, "But in the end, the treasure will be mine! Tee hee!"

"_Not so fast!_"

_FSHUU FSHUUU…_

Several shurikens were thrown towards Shizuka, but she managed to dodge and she eventually saw who did it… Ninja Black. "No fair, I found this one first!" Shizuka protested.

"I don't have time for games." Ninja Black said seriously as he drew his Kakuremaru, "I'm taking that comb. Step aside!"

"No way!" Shizuka refused as she stuck her tongue and pulled her eye pupil, taunting Jiraiya, "Bleh!"

Instead, Ninja Black responded with a thumbs down and utters one line with full determination that he would prevail. "Judgment!" With that, he dashed forward and swung the Kakuremaru forward as a first strike. However, Shizuka was also a ninja and leapt above, dodging his attack. Thus, the battle between ninja commenced.

'Well, this girl is at least tougher than one of those Flower Kunoichi Gang…' Ninja Black thought as she continued to exchange slashes between his Kakuremaru and Shizuka's kunai. 'But I really have no time to waste here…' Thus at that moment, he suddenly let his defense open and let Shizuka slash him right on the chest "AAGH!"

"Ha! You're not so tough!" Shizuka taunted cheerily, "Now the comb is…" She then turned to the comb, but then saw Ninja Black already running to it. "Huh? ! But he…" And when she turned back to where she slashed him, it turned out it was just a log that she slashed. "Aaah! Damn it!" She pouted for a short moment, before eventually leaping forward like a grasshopper jumping and kicked Ninja Black from the back.

_ZBAAAK!_

Ninja Black collapsed to the ground as Shizuka ran off to the altar and grabbed the comb, "All right! Victory is mine!" Shizuka cheered, until suddenly a hook was shot to her arm, tying her with it. "Hey!"

It turned out Ninja Black used the Shinobi Knuckle's grappling hook to grab on her arm. "I told you, I'm not giving it up! This is important to us compared to what you thieves do!"

"Did you say thief? !" Shizuka suddenly displayed a rather sad face, "Is this how you treat me? ! While all we wanted was just to bring back the glory of the Society of Shadow! Despite the name, we used to be an honorable society, you know!"

"Huh…? !" Ninja Black suddenly hesitated. Shizuka did show some credible reasoning behind her thieving ways.

"For that we need big cash! That's why we've been hunting down Preciouses…" Shizuka said further, even though the two kept pulling each other.

"Maybe you've got a non-malicious reason. But…!" Ninja Black said as he continued to pull to his side, "My friend's life is at stake, so I must have that comb, if I want to save her!"

Eventually, as they continued to pull each other, Shizuka's grip to her comb loosened and it ended up thrown to the air. However, rather than landing to the ground, the comb suddenly floated and never touched the ground. "Eeh? ! The comb's alive!"

"Nice distraction…" A female voice was heard and as Ninja Black noticed, something materialized from it. It was none other than Mele, who used her stealth to sneak between the fight unnoticed.

"_Nice tag,_ Mele!" Ninja Black said as he loosened the hook from Shizuka's hand and approached Mele instead.

"Right. We have no purpose to be here. Let's get out of here." Mele said as she moved away along with Ninja Black, handing down the comb to him. However, on that moment, a kunai was thrown to Mele's hand, causing her to knock away the comb. And the next thing she knew was that Shizuka was attempting to kick her, but Mele reacted enough to block it with her bare hands, "Oh, so you still want to get beaten? !"

"That comb is mine! Mine! Mine!" Shizuka insisted after Mele deflected her.

"Fine. I'll let you taste the power of Rin Jyuu Chameleon Fist!" Mele declared as she took her battle stance. Thus she leapt towards Shizuka and began fighting, only with her bare hands for the moment.

Ninja Black watched in awe as both ladies fought against each other. They were near equal as well. All he could do is to take a ready stance as he moved slowly towards the comb.

And when he got there, he picked up the comb from the ground. But in the same time he was shot down from behind. "Whaa! This…!" Ninja Black fell to the ground, but when he tried to get up, a sword was thrown to him, piercing through his side stomach and damaged him enough to eventually de-morph.

"Jiraiya? !" Mele turned sideways and was shocked at the attack. Shizuka also halted her attack as she saw two figures entering… both Gasha Dokuro and Sasuegami.

"Thanks for the timing!" Shizuka waved cheerily to the two, "Pick up the comb and let's get out of here!"

"Don't order us around, brat." Gasha Dokuro suddenly said coldly as he shot down not just Mele, but Shizuka as well. She shot Mele more times, causing her to revert back to her human form once again.

"Geh… I thought you're… allies…" Mele grunted as she tried to get up.

"Sasuegami… wrong… target!" Shizuka also tried to get up but Sasuegami just put his hand forward. With each hands, he unleashed two grappling hooks, which hit on both of Shizuka's wrists and ankles and pushed her to the wall. As he released the hooks, Shizuka was still stuck to the wall as in the place of the hooks were black iron straps, "Hey, what's the meaning of this? ! Let go!"

"What…!" Jiraiya was about to get up and ask again, but Sasuegami said nothing else but to use the same attack which also got him strapped onto the wall, to Shizuka's right. "_Damn!_"

"What are you doing here, you skull freak…? !" Mele asked, but there was no answer and Sasuegami just launched the same attack. "Same attack won't work to me!" Mele said as she jumped… only to realize too late that the hooks homed to her wrists and ankles and sent her strapped to the wall to Shizuka's left, "Damn it!"

"Well isn't that fitting…" Gasha Dokuro said as he approached the three stuck warriors, "This place will be your grave, along with all of the Dark Shadow."

"What? ! Just you wait, if Gekkou-sama knew about this treachery, you're gonna get punished, big time, Sasuegami!" Shizuka threatened.

"Oh, he won't punish me." Sasuegami said. But at that point their conversation was interrupted when Red Mask, Deka Blue and Mega Yellow entered, "Well, thanks for the shortcut."

"Shortcut? !" Mega Yellow said in shock, "And we had to take a detour after that… that…!"

"So you entered after us just so you avoid all those traps… Damn…!" Deka Blue lamented, but then he looked at the rest of the captives, "Jiraiya! Mele! You two okay? !"

"Careful…!" Jiraiya could only say that, there's not much else he could do.

"Huh? Sakura… where is she? !" Red Mask suddenly noticed.

"Where that woman goes matters little to you." Gasha Dokuro said, "This will be your grave!"

"Not if I can help it!" Red Mask tried moving forward to attack, but at the same time, Gasha Dokuro used his bullet tubes to shoot down the area surrounding Jiraiya, Mele and Shizuka.

"You do anything funny and they'll be the first to head to Hell!" Gasha Dokuro threatened.

"You cheat! Using hostages like that…!" Mega Yellow protested.

"Anything is a viable option in battle." Gasha Dokuro said as he moved forward, "So just stay here while I slowly take your life away!" As he said that he began attacking Red Mask, Deka Blue and Mega Yellow. The attacks went on continually until eventually, their suits couldn't take it anymore and the three de-morphed.

"Urgh… Damn…!" Takeru said as he started to get up. However at that time, Sasuegami ended up unleashing his grappling hook again to push him to the wall and strap him there too, next to Jiraiya. "What the… what's this…? !"

"Well you'll be stuck there for awhile." Sasuegami said as he then turned towards Chisato. He used the same move again, and as she was fatigued with the slashes she received from Gasha Dokuro, she was unable to dodge as she ended up being pushed and strapped to the wall next to Takeru.

"Damn… is there nothing we can do…!" Chisato cursed as she saw Gasha Dokuro just grabbing the comb casually. However, she noted something… they didn't do anything to Hoji.

Hoji meanwhile tried to get up. But the wounds, combined with once again his head heating up for some reason, prevented him to do so. Gasha Dokuro then kicked him away casually, getting him close to the rest. "Urgh… Why are you giving me some sort of special treatment like this? Not like the others…"

"Because I don't need to." Gasha Dokuro said, "Hell, to kill you, I don't even need my sword or my gun anymore."

"_What? !_" Hoji said in disbelief, but he ended up getting kicked again as a result.

"It's simple. You want to know why you felt that pain on the head?" As Sasuegami explained, once again his voice started slipping into a more high-pitched one, "Because the sword that hits you on the head contains an aura from Long, which would curse you and turn you into a human bomb… which he can blow up anytime he desires it activated."

"What? !" All five said simultaneously in shock.

"But Sakura was hit with that as well…! Does that mean…!" Hoji said in disbelief.

"Yes! That means she's going to blow up as well, and there's nothing you can do about it! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Uncharacteristically for him, Sasuegami let out a loud laugh.

"Hey, hold up!" Shizuka finally spoke, "Sasuegami, since when did your voice turn out like that?"

"Bah, I guess it's no longer needed to cover this up." Gasha Dokuro's words shocked Shizuka at that point as Sasuegami began to speak again.

"Hah! You believed me to be this 'Sasuegami' who is already pushing up the daisies right about now? !" Sasuegami taunted "GYAHAHAHAHA! You're such a dumbass!"

"Sasuegami… dead? !" Shizuka was shocked hearing it, "Who're you? !"

"Allow me to show you my true form…" As Sasuegami said that, he threw a bomb to the ground and in his place was some sort of raccoon-like demon, "I am actually Youkai Tanuki! I am a legendary creature known for my disguise and shapeshifting ability! I'm mischievous and naughty too!"

"But… but how did you… Sasuegami…!" Shizuka protested further.

"Yes, we did hire him. But one moment you're away…" Tanuki explained, "I ambushed him with Master Gasha Dokuro, killed him and took his guise! And I thought I'm the gullible! Well, you're even more gullible than I am! HAHAHA!"

"Hmm…?" Gasha Dokuro suddenly spoke. It's as if he was being called on or something, "Yes, very well. I'll be taking this comb to Long. You've done your part, you let her live longer. Not that it matters because you'll soon die." As Gasha Dokuro said that, he vanished, returning to Long's palace. However, Tanuki stayed.

"Ooh, Master, you're such a bore! Nothing feels better than seeing these people die and laughing at their misery!" Tanuki said loudly. At that time, however, Hoji was already up and launched a punch to him, trying to make him shut up. However, it was easily dodged and he was instead kicked down again, "Just stay there and watch as you destroy the Super Sentai AND the Dark Shadow!"

"You… you'll pay for this! Gekkou-sama will punish you!" Shizuka screamed in anger.

"Nope, I'm scots free now! Do you know why?" Tanuki said mischievously and suddenly his tone became more sinister, "That's because Maboroshi no Gekkou is dead!"

"W… what? !" Shizuka was in such a shock that after saying those words, she was silent. Gekkou. Her respected master. Something like a father-figure to her. Now dead. She might be the only Dark Shadow member who lived now. "N… no…" Tears started rolling from her cheek as she lost all the cheeriness she had.

"This is pathetic. Stop crying!" Mele yelled at her, "He can still be avenged! You can't do that when all you do is cry like this!"

Shizuka didn't listen as she started sobbing. Hearing that, Takeru became even more disgusted looking at the Youkai. And if the fall of Dark Shadow was planned by Long and his cronies, it served nothing but to make him hate the Infinite Dragon even further.

'Long…! Damn you and your schemes…!'

* * *

Back to the enemy's base, Lamie approached Long, who was observing with Abrellar and Shibolena. She brought in Mei, who was wearing the Garment of Kushinada. "Hm? So Kiros hasn't awakened yet?"

"He should be in a short time." Abrellar noted as he looked towards Mei, who was being held on the hand by Lamie, "Hm. It fits you well…"

"No! It doesn't!" Mei protested, "How could you… make me wear something as embarrassing as this…!"

"Ugh, again with that screeching voice." Long sighed as he looked at Shibolena. "You know what to do. And please, give her a good seat as well."

"So you don't like my voice? ! So that is your weakness!" Mei yelled as both Lamie and Shibolena took her near a chair. They forcefully tied Mei's hands behind her back, then tied her body to her arms, as well as tying her legs before getting her to sit down and tied her body and legs to the chair, "Very well! I will do everything in my power to – Nnnmmh!" Before she could speak further, the two dark ladies gagged her once more, using the clothes that came with the garment after stuffing her mouth with other clothes.

"No, it's not my weakness, my dear." Long said as he approached Mei, "It's just that your voice will be annoying to go with the show. It doesn't match. Besides, this looks more interesting."

'Don't screw around with me!' Mei attempted to yell at him, but only muffled voices came through.

"Regardless, even if it ends up that way, it wasn't by our choice that you're wearing that." Long continued, "The Garment chose you. Now all we need to do is for the Comb to come."

At that time, Gasha Dokuro entered the room as he brought over the Comb of Kushinada. "If you want the Comb, here it is."

"Ah very good, Gasha Dokuro." Long said as he grabbed the Comb. Carefully approaching Mei, he put on the comb to her hair, like an accessory which was stuck in her head, "Hmm, it fits you well. And now that I have these two Preciouses…" As Long said that, he began to make a very wide, sinister smile, "It's time for the show where I activate my curse… Enjoy your friends blowing up, my dear."

"Mmh? !" Mei gasped. She thought if she did as he said, her friends would be free. "Mmmnngghh! Mmmmff! Hnnnmmhhh! Nnnnnggg!" She screamed and screamed, begging him to stop as tears of worry started rolling from her eyes. However, Long just smiled.

"I never said I'll let them go if you do those." Long commented, ignoring Mei's muffled screams and just acted as if those were music to his ears. He waved his hand as his golden aura started creating two visions and he started chanting several words…

* * *

While struggling, Sakura's efforts started to bear fruit. Her Accellular ended up falling to the ground. 'Good!' She thought as she wiggled her feet a little, grabbing it with her legs and putting it forward. 'I guess that's a progress. Now about this gag…' She attempted to try rubbing her head to the rock behind her… but at the moment…

"Nng…? !" An enormous pain started to envelop Sakura's body. Her body temperature was increasing rapidly as she felt like burning and exploding from the inside. And the pain and temperature increase just continued to add up that her body were nearing her limit "Mmmnnnnhhh….!" Sakura, unable to withstand the pain in the calmest way possible, started to violently struggle with her body, as well as trying to scream from her lungs as loud as possible.

'Is… is this the curse they're talking about…? ! I'm going to be a human bomb? ! No…!'

* * *

"GAAAAAHHHH!" In the meantime, Hoji was also screaming in pain. He started to uncontrollably roll as his body felt like exploding here and there. "AAAAAARRRGGHHH!"

"Hoji! What happened!" Takeru exclaimed, now completely worried.

"It hurts… My body… It hurts…! Ugh…! Gah…! AAAAHHH!" Hoji was unable to do anything, let alone grab any of his weapons.

"Ngyahahaha! Looks like it has begun! The activation of Long's curse!" Tanuki laughed and explained, "The Infinite Dragon is incredible! With just ki and skills, he can even make something in similar effect of a bomb! First that boy would feel incredible pain until his body can't take it anymore. And after that… BOOM! There goes his life, your lives, this mountain and a lot of surrounding cities!"

"You'll die if you stay here!" Chisato yelled, "Why aren't you getting out? ! You want to die like that? !"

"Ooh, nope! I can exit this place anytime as Long provided me the means to do it!" Tanuki taunted, "Besides, I'd rather see you in despair until the moment you'll go boom and die! HAHAHAHA!"

"D… damn…!" Jiraiya cursed at their helplessness and their inability to help Hoji. All they could depend was on Hoji's endurance. And all the while, Shizuka hasn't stopped sobbing.

* * *

And all of these, from Sakura's situation to Hoji's, were all the visions Mei saw from the enemy base. It broke her heart seeing her friends like this and she was completely helpless to do anything about it.

Is this the end of the Super Sentai? Would they fall victim to the human bomb plan? Will that shrine be destroyed and become their grave? What would happen to Mei as she's now still being held prisoner with the Preciouses of Kushinada attached to her, would she be sacrificed to open the Sheol? Hold on, and get yourself together! Super Sentai!

* * *

Meanwhile, flying through the Earth, Top Galer was looking for something. "So it has begun, gera." He muttered, "Well… what will you do now… humans? This is where it counts. I hope you don't disappoint me and my friend over there, gera."

Shortly after when flying over the sea, he looked down and saw something. It looked like an island, and there seemed to be great power coming in from there. "I found it, gera…"

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

Author's note: Well a LOT happened. And not necessarily good ones like the SWAT Mode upgrade that Hoji got, the whole team is in trouble. Will they get out of this trouble? Sorry for the cliffhanger and tons of people tied up here, but hey, Kakuranger got plenty of it, consider me paying tribute to them.

But yeah, if you didn't notice, the owl Gekkou from Boukenger here is killed. Will this also spell the destruction of Dark Shadow as well?

Stay tuned for the next chapter, and send in the reviews!


	16. Killer of the Rebirth

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **And we're back and probably wrapping up the arc spanning from Chapter 14. Enjoy!**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 16: Killer of the Rebirth  
**

* * *

As it stood right now, Nishihori Sakura, also known as Bouken Pink, was temporarily replacing Mei's place in the team. However, both she and Hoji were unknowingly turned into walking human bombs. Mei, in order to prevent them getting blown up early, was told to go on a mission to retrieve the Garment of Kushinada and killed the Dark Shadow leader Maboroshi no Gekkou. In the meantime, Takeru's team hunted the Comb of Kushinada along with Dark Shadow kunoichi Kaze no Shizuka, only to fall to a surprise attack by Gasha Dokuro and Youkai Tanuki who previously masqueraded as Tsukumogami Sasuegami. And now, the bombs' times started to tick away…

* * *

Looking at how Hoji practically squirming in pain, screaming as loud as he could to withstand the pain, Takeru knew he had to take action. 'They got me restrained like this. But I refuse to give up! There has to be a way!' He tried wiggling against his restraints, but it did him no good. Until he realized… he can still move his fingers. 'Hey! I remember this kind of moment…'

Back then, he and the Maskmen were caught by surprise with their possessed friend that they were all crucified side-by-side. At that point, even during crucifixion, they managed to do a finger gesture to initiate a meditation and it helped in making the possessed friend get a hold of himself. And at this rate, his positioning made it easy for him to repeat such feat.

"Jiraiya! Chisato!" Takeru suddenly yelled, "Open your hands and try to point your index fingers and thumbs to mine!"

"Huh? !" Jiraiya was surprised hearing such bold yell, "What is it gonna do?"

"That's probably the only key I had to get us all out of here together! Quick!" Takeru said as he opened his palm.

"But Hoji is…!" Chisato said in doubts, looking at how Hoji was writhing in pain and screaming was too much for her.

"Try to calm down! Just believe in me!" Takeru said further, encouraging, "Just believe that I am going to save you all. Not just Hoji, but also Mei!"

"Ugh… okay. Deep breath, deep breath." Chisato said as she opened her hand, putting her index finger and thumb to Takeru with the only hand that can reach him. 'I believe you, Takeru. If you're fighting to stay calm… I will try as well.' On the other hand, Jiraiya wasted no words and did as Takeru said. As a ninja, he's used to similar meditations.

'This wouldn't be enough to get someone out of possession. But if I can get a hint of whatever is going on and how to solve it… it'll be worth it…!' Takeru thought as he concentrated his mind, trying to wash away his fears and eventually exclaimed, "MEDITATION!"

Closing his eyes, he focused on the Aura Power inside him. Jiraiya and Chisato weren't trained in utilizing theirs, but their cooperation enabled him to focus. Slowly, the Aura Power started to manifest into the air above Takeru as it also started to envelop Tanuki. "What? ! What the hell is this? !" The monster yelled, clearly disturbed.

"What does that do anyway?" Mele said. But then she was shocked. Something started shining in Tanuki's… questionable area on the chest. It wasn't there before, but the Aura Power exposure might've revealed it. It's like two orbs, and she could feel it… Gen Jyuu Ken's aura in it. "I hate doing this, but you leave me no choice, Takeru." Mele muttered as she also began concentrating her own Rinki and eventually exclaimed, "Rin-Jyuu Chameleon Fist Ringi! Mukou Shouha!" She opened her mouth… and her tongue suddenly turned sharp and elongated with extreme speed… and hits on one of the orbs.

"Waaah! No!" Tanuki screamed as she fell to the ground, "The… the aura… the curse Long built in within me…!"

* * *

"GAAH!" Back in the enemy base, Long ended up backing down, disrupted in his curse chanting. "But how… how did he…!" He said in disbelief as he looked at how Tanuki was lying on the ground powerless and the orb on his chest cracked. "How did he bring about that orb! It was where I concentrated my curse! Now it's… gone!"

"Ugh… that idiot! What a time for his mischievous nature to play up! I never thought he'd steal something!" Gasha Dokuro cursed. Probably Tanuki snuck up within the base and stole the orbs that contained the energy necessary for Long to activate the curse. And while he hid it well, he paid for it dearly. "Bah… in that case, I'll just leave him to his eventual demise."

Suddenly, they heard a little muffled laugh. When everyone looked at Mei, Long could hear that she was actually giggling. On how Long's plan failed and everyone was safe with her. 'You see, Long? Your plan failed. Not really living up to your boasts, did you?'

Long instead just approached her and instead gave her a cold voice. "Don't laugh at me, you wench." He immediately followed with a hard slap on Mei's face. But as if that wasn't enough, he grabbed her on her chin and brought her head closer to his. "You do realize you will pay big for making fun of me? Perhaps you'd like me to do something on this fair skin of yours? For instance…"

As he said that, his other hand started to run across Mei's body, in particular her soft skin. She froze as Long ran his fingers through her neck… to the chest… to the shoulders… to the back… "Mmm… nnngg…" Mei let out weakly, unable to do anything. However, she knew that this gave her more reasons to hate Long.

And from afar, even Lamie and Shibolena were putting their hands in the forehead, seeing how dirty Long treat women in general. 'If that's how he treats women… What would he plan on us one day?' Shibolena thought to herself.

'I never thought this day would come…' Lamie thought, looking at how Long played around with her rival, 'But for this once, I'm starting to pity Mei.'

It wasn't until eventually Abrellar put his hand on Long's shoulders, "You should know your limits. The Sheol will not respond if the bearer of Kushinada is not a virgin. Or you would rather botch all that?"

"Hm… you do make good point, Alienizer." Long said as he eventually let go of Mei, "Our quest for that agent of Dezumozorlya through Sheol must not be halted."

'Dezumo… what?' Mei, once again confused with what they said, started to wonder. And aside of that, the name was a bit too hard to spell correctly. But in the least, she was glad that the torture on her and her friends was over. 'I'm sorry for being useless like this…'

* * *

"MMMMMMFFF—FWAAAH!" All of the sudden, due to the curse being depowered, the pain in Sakura's body was gone. However, the impact of her screaming in pain all the time eventually had an effect in her gag… it went off. 'I can speak normally again! Well it's a good thing no one saw me screaming like that. Now where was I…' Once again she focused on her Accellular, which was near her feet. She moved it so she could put it near her feet while bending her knees, lightly pressed the device, causing it to open the keys where she would usually type in.

"Good… now…!" Moving her legs again, she carefully put it sideways. "OK, here goes…" Then she carefully hit the sun button, and in the same time, holding it together . The button was activated and she knew this was the time.

"**Boukenger! Start Up!**"She yelled and thrust her feet forward, rolling the wheel on the Accellular. The plan worked and this transformed her into Bouken Pink. Now transformed, she easily snapped the bindings wrapping her and got back on her feet. 'Okay, now that I'm back in action, I should go back there… huh?'

She felt a surge of energy from within the mountain, to be exact, the leftover Aura Power released by Takeru. Rather than coming from the entrance, it seemed to come from somewhere else. To be exact… the top of the mountain. 'Perhaps a shortcut…!' As Bouken Pink concluded, she then ran to the side of the entrance and started climbing the mountain…

* * *

Weakened with Mele's tongue stab, the bindings that restrained the Sentai and Shizuka vanished and they got off from the wall. "Is everyone okay? !" Takeru asked the rest.

"I'm fine, but what about Hoji?" Chisato asked, more concerned on the other member who wasn't restrained, but received much more pain than they could ever feel. However, the worry was put on halt when a hand tapped on Chisato's shoulder, and when she looked back, Hoji was there, no longer screaming in pain anymore. He gave a thumb up to signify it as Takeru nodded.

"Pffaaaugh!" And the worry turned into a shock when they hear a sound of groaning. When they turned towards Mele, she was coughing and spitting to the ground in disgust, on the verge of puking. "Damn it, you stink! My tongue… it's all… euuurgh! How do you think Rio-sama would tolerate this kind of stinking mouth! Damn it, it's all your fault!"

"Ah… well, no need to worry about that. We got a lot of mouth-washer…" Jiraiya said, reassuring before he turned towards Tanuki, who already got up, "But first, there's a Youkai we gotta exterminate first."

"Grr! You might've lifted the curse, but you still haven't beaten me yet!" Tanuki said, throwing a hissy fit, "Prepare…!" He prepared to lunge. However, all of the sudden, the ceiling from behind the Sentai suddenly was broken and launched straight onto Tanuki's face, knocking him away. And from there, a rope was thrown to the ground, and Bouken Pink leapt to the scene.

"Sakura!" Takeru exclaimed, "Where were you?"

"Use code names in…" Bouken Pink was about to go up with her usual habit of reminding her teammates about the usage of code names, but then she bit her lips a little, realizing that they're not SGS and it's not bound with its laws, "… Never mind. Actually I was a little tied up, but I'm fine now."

"And how did you even get here?" Hoji asked, "This makes me feel like the shrine builder wasn't even serious in protecting the Precious."

"It should be impenetrable. But there was a certain power which suddenly cracked open something from above." Bouken Pink explained, "Which is probably why I am able to make the shortcut."

"Why you! How dare you humiliate me like this!" Tanuki yelled as he got up, "You can't beat me! I'll beat you up the same!"

"I don't think so. I figured your weakness already." Bouken Pink said as she maximized the Parallel Engine power in her Hydro Shooter and prepared to shoot. "Shooter Hurricane!" As she yelled, she unleashed a high-powered water stream that was aimed to Tanuki and it hit him, cornering him to the wall.

"Aaah! No! No! Water! I hate water!" Tanuki shouted, "I feel so vexed!"

"Your fault to ditch the Sasuegami guise. The shield you create could protect you from the water, but one moment you let it slip, it hits you and your weakness becomes obvious. And without the shield, nothing will protect you!" Bouken Pink finished as eventually Tanuki was unable to get up, but not yet destroyed.

"Okay! Let's finish this!" Takeru said in high spirit, but suddenly, Hoji tapped his shoulder and stepped forward.

"Sorry, Takeru, but I'll handle this myself." Hoji said as he faced Tanuki, "I'll make you pay for that time before, making me into a human bomb. And after you, it'll be Long's turn." As he said that, he drew his SP License, "**Emergency! Dekaranger!**" With that, he turned into Deka Blue, but he has yet to put down his License. Typing in some keys, he then exclaimed. "SWAT Mode On!"

In a sudden, the particles in Deka Blue's suit expanded, giving him a bulletproof vest with the number 2 on it and a machine gun. "Whoa, Hoji… what did you just find?" Takeru said, curiously.

"Ask that later! Youkai Tanuki!" Deka Blue said as he put on his SP License, "For impersonating other people for your own purposes and willingly involving in human bomb experiments! Judgment!" Thus Judgment Time was applied to Tanuki as he was confused with what's going on. And obviously, it landed on the red X mark. "Delete Approved!"

"But didn't you say you're not going to bother with this one for a bit?" Chisato asked curiously as previously Hoji did say he wouldn't bother to it too much.

"I guess there are some exceptions, especially if he's this angry…" Jiraiya noted as he saw Deka Blue continuing.

"D-Revolver, Full Power!" He exclaimed as he aimed towards Tanuki, "Lock On! Strike Out!" With that, he fired a barrage of beam bullets towards Tanuki…

"Ugh, at this rate I'm gonna – Waah!" Tanuki, not knowing that he'd be unable to grow in size with human sufferings, attempted to call forth the sufferings of human, but before he could even attempt to call, the beams pierced through his body many times, destroying him eventually. And as his spirit flew upwards, he let out one last lamenting wail.

"But I haven't become everyone…!"

"_Got you_." Deka Blue said as he put a thumb down. He then turned toward his allies, "Now let's get out of here. With that rope, maybe."

"But that form… wow." Takeru said as he clapped his hand as both Deka Blue and Bouken Pink de-transformed. He just witnessed what a future Sentai warrior could do, even if he couldn't do it, he was glad that as time passed, Sentai continued to evolve in their methods in fighting evil.

"Come on." Hoji said as he grabbed the rope that was provided by Sakura and started climbing. The rest eventually realized it and they also start climbing the rope.

But once they're outside, they realized something. "Hey… where did Mele go?" Chisato asked, noticing that they did miss out one ally.

"I don't see Shizuka either." Sakura also noticed another figure missing. She did know Shizuka was there throughout the fight, albeit completely catatonic due to the news of Gekkou's death.

"There they are!" Jiraiya said as he pointed to the hole where they came from. Even from afar, they did notice that Mele was standing in front of Shizuka who slumped on the ground, completely powerless.

"Get up, you." Mele said coldly to Shizuka, "You really want it to end like this?"

"Gekkou-sama… Gekkou-sama…" Shizuka continued to cry, unable to think of anything else. The one thing she held dear about was gone, she saw no reason to go on. This in return infuriated Mele further as she grabbed Shizuka on her collar with one hand and forced her to get up.

"Are you really this pathetic? !" Mele scolded, "You love this Gekkou, didn't you? ! Who is he to you? ! Answer me!"

"He… he's… like my father… my one master…" Shizuka answered, in between sobbing, "And now he's dead! Shizuka… waah… Shizuka can't go on…"

"Oh, so you'll let his murderer go off free, huh?" Mele beckoned, "Well, you can go ahead and sulk off like this. Your master won't be at peace that you sink that low and his death goes unavenged, the murderer and his mastermind is still out there, not this… stupid monster who just died and that skull freak. But of course there's always the option of standing up and avenge your master by taking revenge on the murderer. But a gutless girl like you can never do it!" With that, she dropped Shizuka to the ground and turned away, "Very well, you can go cry all day over here, then rot and die. Nobody will care!"

Mele was about to run forward and take the necessary steps to get out of the shrine. However, a voice stopped her. "Wait a minute." It was Shizuka's.

"What, you want to say 'Don't leave me here, I'm so afraid to be alone!', huh?" Mele taunted further, especially with a mock-whiny voice, "Then you should know that my ears are deaf for that. I'm leaving."

"Who said I want to say that? !" Shizuka yelled, which shocked Mele, "You do make a point, whatsyourname. Gekkou-sama may be dead, but there's still me, Kaze no Shizuka, his best student! And with that being said, Shizuka shall avenge his death and make that murderer pay!"

"That's more like it." Mele nodded, smiling, although she was slightly annoyed that Shizuka forgot her name after she declared hers on the outside, "By the way, I'm Mele, not 'Whatsyourname'." Without wasting any further words, Mele ran forward and didn't even grab the rope. Instead, she ran so fast that she was running on the wall until she got out. Shizuka also followed suit and also ran on the wall and jumped up.

"Well, what's the hold up?" Takeru asked once Mele's outside.

"Nothing. Somewhat I just feel pissed seeing this brat sulking and crying pathetically, not even standing up for herself when her master is dead." Mele gave the answer.

"Master? So… Maboroshi no Gekkou is dead?" Sakura said, shocked as she looked at Shizuka, in which she put her hand on her shoulder, "Kaze no Shizuka… we fought against each other before, but… I mourn for the loss of Gekkou."

"Boukenger…" Shizuka slowly answered, "You know, Dark Shadow used to be an honorable ninja clan, we just need big cash to revive it. That has always been Gekkou-sama's intention so he sought for the Precious, even though thievery."

"You can start over." Jiraiya said, "You can work hard in fair methods, I'm sure you'll gather enough cash to eventually rebuild your clan. The path of a ninja is a harsh one, you just have to endure."

"Huh, really, whatsyourname." Shizuka said, completely forgetting the name again.

"Jiraiya." The man corrected.

"I guess it's… kinda worth a try." Shizuka nodded, "But, avenging Gekkou-sama comes first."

'I wonder if it's going to turn all right…' On mentioning revenge, Chisato started to have doubts if Shizuka's goal will went on the smooth way.

"This 'Gekkou-sama'… where is he?" Hoji moved forward and asked.

"Well, he never leaves his home unless completely necessary." Shizuka answered.

"Okay, take us there." Takeru said, "We can figure out the murderer there."

Shizuka just nodded, she felt uneasy with allying with the Super Sentai, but if they know more about this 'murderer' and his 'mastermind', the better for her to carry out her vengeance. With that she led the Super Sentai away from the mountain…

* * *

Back in the enemies' headquarters, Abrellar was looking through the portable radar, in order to track down Top Galer's location, whether he succeeded or not in finding the Sheol. "It seems that he's done his part. He got the Sheol location. The coordinates is as seen here." As Abrellar said, he handed down his radar to Long. And as a being that existed for so long, he had been familiar with how technology marched and understood what the radar said.

"Very good." Long said as he turned towards Mei, "Well now, my dear. It seems that your time has come."

"Mmmng…" Mei grunted a little as she heard footsteps. Four Igaroids arrived along with some Anaroids and the four was carrying a steel cage.

"Put her in." Long commanded as eventually both Lamie and Shibolena untied Mei from the chair, but still kept her bound as they tossed her to the cage. As Mei looked, she did notice that even Lamie held some sort of disgust to Long. But that sight was cut short as Long blocked her view by looking at her, "You're going to enjoy some strolling before your life is taken away for that Sheol… You may as well enjoy this. Very well… let us be going."

As Long moved towards the teleportation area, accompanied with Abrellar, Mei looked at Lamie as her rival looked at her with cold, but slightly pitiful eyes, directed at her. "Mmmm…! Mm-mm-mn-ngg-gff!" Mei struggled and tried a slightly futile attempt on Lamie, hoping that at least she would be moved with her disgust on Long and would move to her own decision rather than being a lapdog forever. However, Lamie wasted a few words, and it wasn't exactly what Mei hoped either.

"Farewell, Mei… My one and only rival…"

* * *

Long and the Igaroids were eventually teleported to the shore of the island where the Sheol was located. "Yes, I am here. You can now do whatever you want…" Long said alone. And in a sudden, a shadow covered the whole group. Top Galer flew away from the island. "Now, shall we begin the journey." Long said as he moved forward, bringing along Abrellar and the Igaroids. "So… I heard you've had this kind of experience before." Long suddenly spoke to Abrellar.

"Actually yes. We did try to bring back Dezumozorlya." Abrellar mentioned, remembering the last incident where he tried contacting the last remaining of Evolians' Trinoid to bring back their master for him to manipulate, "Only that it failed and it just produced a dead Abaranger, which put my plans on halt."

"That dead Abaranger… is exactly what we aimed for." Long grinned, "The Sheol is after all a cursed gate. A good person that crossed from there will be corrupted. An evil being who crossed from there will have their evil increased tenfold."

"And to open it, it still requires the Kushinada Preciouses?" Abrellar attempted to confirm, "I assume that it doesn't matter from which side they enter… the corruption will still take place."

"Indeed, on both cases." Long nodded as he looked at Mei, "Well, I would be very curious to see how tossing you to the Sheol will turn out, but… I guess that won't happen. You see… because the Kushinada Garment and Comb are already corrupted by the blood of the legendary serpent Orochi during its battle against the warrior Susanoo. So, once you're in the right place, your life force will be sucked out and it will be used to open the Sheol."

Mei was shocked hearing it. So she was going to be sacrificed to open whatever chaos it will bring. And if Long was aiming for a dead ranger, if it came from the Sheol then it'll be a mockery of the concept of Sentai. 'You'll never get away with this…!' Mei grunted a little and in frustration attempted to kick the cage bars in front of her.

Only to be electrocuted by it as she collapsed to the ground. "Oh, you can go ahead and do it all day. But then you'll die." Abrellar mentioned, "Why the result would be unsatisfactory for us, you better think about the people you left behind if you die." Mei was completely beaten with that sentence. If she died, she'd just make her friends sad and she might not be reunited with her fellow Zyurangers.

'I have to stay brave… But, urgh… my hand is starting to itch…'

* * *

The group arrived at the top of a mountain. Aside of a closed gate, there was a circular ground made of blocks. As they got closer, Long had the Igaroids put down the cage and they opened the cage. Bringing Mei out, they got her to the circular blocks and put up several ropes to tie her body into four small posts surrounding the block, immobilizing her further. "When the sun starts to set… the Garment and Comb will take your life force to fuel the opening of Sheol." Long mentioned, "I do certainly hope you will enjoy the last moments of your life…"

"Nnnngg!" Mei violently shook her head and struggled. She really got pissed and would've slapped Long if she's not tied.

"Of course if you don't want to do this, you can return to us and probably Kiros would be glad to help me make some videos where you are abused by him." Abrellar's mention didn't make her feel any better, "There's a high demand for it in the Black Market, if you are interested."

Long and Abrellar left her, along with the Igaroids and Anaroids, leaving her alone to her fate. "Mmm! MMMM!" Mei tried to yell at them, telling them to wait, but it was ignored, as if her voice was understandable at the moment. 'No… those things they mentioned won't happen! I will get out of here! I refuse to give up!' Mei thought as she continued to struggle. As this wasn't those special ropes that would loosen up if she stayed calm, all she could depend was her own strength. Even then, she was tied up so tightly she wasn't making any progress. However, she continued to struggle…

"Nng… Mmf… mff…"

* * *

The Super Sentai was led to the old hideout of Dark Shadow, accompanied with Shizuka. Opening it, they saw a corpse of an owl. "Gekkou-sama…" Shizuka said as she picked it up… and hugged it.

"Gekkou is an owl?" Takeru asked as he was a little baffled in seeing it.

"It's kind of a long story. But I can assure you that is Maboroshi no Gekkou." Sakura said. She pulled her Accellular as she scanned the surrounding. "Hazard Level… 0. It seems that they're not having any Preciouses here."

"Huh? Aren't those…" As Hoji noted, he saw Mei's clothes wrapped neatly there, along with her Dino Buckler and Ptera Arrow. "These are Mei's… she was here." Shizuka heard such commotion and when she looked at Gekkou's body, she did see an arrow wound.

"Mei… she couldn't have…" Jiraiya was about to say something, but it was cut down by Chisato.

"How can you say that! Mei can't be the one who did this!" Chisato insisted, "She… she's way too kind to do this."

"Chisato has a point." Takeru added, "Maybe Long coerced her to do this for whatever reason or grudge he got…"

"So that means, that 'human bomb' plan…" Mele mentioned.

"Oh, that's right… so it makes sense." Hoji said as he shook his fist in anger while carrying Mei's clothes, "That Long…"

"_Unforgivable!_" And in the same time, both Hoji and Jiraiya said the same word, in English. For once, Jiraiya did not nitpick as both their hearts were concentrated on their mutual enmity towards Long.

It was then there was a loud sound heard from the outside along with a strong gust of wind from the outside. "What is that…" Takeru said as he came out. And on the very outside, he saw a huge shadow flying around. This was in fact the shadow of Top Galer. "Whoa… what is that…!"

"It's you…!" Hoji recognized that creature, "You bastard. Where is Mei? !" Top Galer was silent and instead flew away. "I'm not leaving without an answer!" Angered, Hoji ran forward, chasing Top Galer. Takeru knew that the only thing left to do was to follow Hoji, and so the Super Sentai, along with Shizuka, ran towards Top Galer.

Eventually Top Galer landed on a shore. "Humans… get on my back, gera." Top Galer said to Takeru and the rest, who reached him.

"And tell me why should we trust you?" Hoji asked back, "It was after all because of you capturing Mei and surrendering her to Long!"

"If you want her dead, be my guest, gera." Top Galer talked back, "I'm giving you a chance to save her. And I mean it, gera."

"What…? !" Hoji was silent hearing it.

"To save Mei? What do you mean?" Takeru asked as well, "I thought you and Long…"

"The Infinite Dragon is never my ally, gera. I'm doing this for a friend, a friend that you may be looking for, gera." Top Galer noted, which shocked Takeru, "Seven Colors. Remember, gera?" Indeed, Takeru noticed that amongst the Seven Colors, one was missing… White. Could it be that Top Galer was luring them to meet this White warrior?

"I do remember. But Mei comes first." Takeru insisted, "Where is she? !"

"Same place with that 'friend', probably, gera." Top Galer answered, before explaining, "That Mei… she was about to have her life force sucked out to open the Sheol. I can take you there and you can prevent the sucking of her life, gera. Do we have a deal, gera?"

"But why her? !" Chisato asked, slightly angered, "It can't be just her, right? !"

"It's something only she can do, gera." A short answer was all Chisato could get from Top Galer.

"Regardless, we have to save Mei now. I don't know what you're planning, you monster, but I'll take your bet to save Mei." Takeru said confidently, "If you ever betray us then you'll feel our wrath."

"Suit yourself, gera. Now get on my back." Top Galer said as he crouched, allowing the team to ride him, "By the way, I'm not just a monster, gera. I'm Burstosaur Top Galer."

"Burstosaur…?" Takeru was shocked. The name seemed to ring a bell, in particular the entry of Abaranger, where the term originated. However, as his mind was occupied in saving Mei, he didn't fully grasp what's going on. As everyone got on Top Galer's back, the creature started flying towards the place where Sheol was located.

* * *

They landed in the shore where Long also arrived. The team got down as Top Galer spoke, "That Mei should've been atop of the mountain. You only have time until sunset, gera." With that, the creature flew off and left them.

"Sunset…? What's going to happen then?" Takeru asked.

"According to the database, that'd be the time that Sheol opens." Sakura said, "If the gates opens before we get there, then this Mei will been slaughtered with what comes from there! We have to hurry!"

However, all of the sudden Shizuka ran forward, all alone. "You! Shizuka!" Mele yelled as she called for her, which was enough to stop her.

"Well thanks for the ride, now Shizuka shall carry out her vengeance." Shizuka said, angered, "That Mei is responsible for the death of Gekkou-sama. She's as good as dead!" With that, she ran off.

"Wait!" Chisato called, but was ignored as Shizuka leapt from trees to trees, getting ahead of them. However, the team's path is blocked by Anaroids, Batsuroids and several normal Rinshis. 'I knew it, she's too clouded with vengeance…! This is not going to end well for her…'

"We don't have time to waste with this!" Jiraiya said as he held up his Doron Changer, "Let's make this quick!"

"Right!" The team nodded as they prepared their transformation devices… except Mele.

"**Aura Mask! Red Mask!**"

"**Emergency! Dekaranger! Face On!**"

"**Super Henge! Doron Changer!**"

"**Install! Megaranger!**"

"…"

"**Boukenger! Start Up!**"

Thus the team transformed and rushed forward, towards the horde of Anaroids and Batsuroids and Rinshis. However at that moment, something crossed Mele's mind. 'Damn, I should've said directly on 'kill Long' rather than 'kill the murderer'. Whatever it is, Shizuka… I'm not going to let you kill Mei!'

* * *

Shizuka alone eventually made it to the near top. While there, she saw that it was near the time that the sun will set. "I'm not gonna let that Precious stuff take her life. I'm taking her life with my own hand!" She exclaimed as she walked forward, eventually reaching the altar, the gate and Mei. "There you are…!"

"Mmm?" Mei looked at Shizuka, not really recognizing her. Shizuka just walked with her kunai ready in hand.

"Hello. I am Kaze no Shizuka of the Dark Shadow. You killed Gekkou-sama." Shizuka said as she continued to walk slowly and raised her kunai along the way, "Prepare to die."

'A Dark Shadow member…? !' Mei was shocked looking at Shizuka. No matter how the situation got, she didn't do it with a choice. She shook her head as if trying to explain something, "Mmf-hhmm-uhhmm-mmnn-nng!"

"No crocodile tears are going to save you!" Shizuka yelled, "Gekkou-sama… You will be avenged today!" With that she swung her blade towards Mei's neck. The latter could only close her eyes in horror as there's nothing that could save her now.

'I'm sorry, everyone…!'

However in the last seconds, Shizuka stopped… right before she separated Mei's neck from her body. She seemed to remember what the Super Sentai said about Mei. "Hey… you. They said something about you 'being too kind' or mentioning someone called 'Long'." As Shizuka said that, she put her hand on the cloth gagging Mei's mouth and pulled it down, allowing her to speak once more. "Is this Long a friend of yours?"

"No, you're wrong!" Mei shook her head, "Long is an enemy of us all. He had me as a hostage for my friend, and told me to kill Gekkou, otherwise he'd blow my friends up. I… I'm sorry, Shizuka. If I could help it, I wouldn't kill the owl…"

"Hmm… so that means…" Shizuka then walked around, putting her elbow on her palm while the hand supported by the elbow was touching her forehead, thinking, "The mastermind behind this isn't you, huh?"

"Yes. The real enemy is Long… Please, release me and we can help each other." Mei pleaded, "Shizuka, by looking at your eyes, I knew that you're not deep down evil, but a normal and cheery girl. Please, we can work together."

"You know. You're… not too bad either." Shizuka said as she grinned genuinely, thinking that Mei might make a great friend. However, that moment was interrupted with a blast of energy to the surrounding area.

"I don't think so…" The blasts turned out to have come from Long, who walked around, "Hoo, so there is a remnant of the Dark Shadow. Greetings… I am Long the Infinite Dragon."

"Long? ! So you're the mastermind behind Gekkou-sama's death!" Shizuka said as she took a fighting stance. Long himself has walked to the point that he was positioned between her and Mei.

"Heh heh… not just your Gekkou." Long said, grinning, "You see… the Society of Shadow… the old name of you Dark Shadow was a thorn to my existence. They annoyed me so I kinda made that Demon Bird creature and sent it to obliterate the Society… until that Gekkou merged with the Bird. This doesn't sit well, so… I dealt with the Society myself and killed the majority of members there to the point that the once big clan became a small one, never to expand further."

"Which means… the cause of the Dark Shadow resorting to thievery like this…" Shizuka concluded, "Was because of you? !"

"Yes. It was pretty fun to watch how the great society of ninja dwindles into a bunch of assassins and thieves." Long said, grinning, "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Of course it's obvious!" Shizuka yelled as she prepared a stance to dash forward, "You will receive punishment from Shizuka… swift death!"

She tried to slash Long with her kunai, but Long anticipated the move and as he sidestepped, he delivered a side kick on Shizuka's rib. "Anticipated that. Is this all you Dark Shadow can do?"

"Shut uuuup!" Shizuka screamed as she continued to attack Long, but he was far above her league, as he continued to dodge her attacks and harshly counter them with his own fist.

"Shizuka!" Worried, Mei called out to Shizuka. However at that point bats started to swarm in the sky and formed into Abrellar, who quickly held Mei on the neck.

"Just watch quietly. This is a wonderful piece." Abrellar said. On his hand was something of a small box used to record things. And what he was recording was… the heavily one-sided battle between Long and Shizuka. "This sells well in Black Market too. Videos of women beaten up brutally like this… I wonder how this video will cost."

"You creep! I won't let that video be distributed in any form!" Mei angrily retorted as she struggled. If she wanted, she would've hit Abrellar somewhere. But then she heard a loud cracking noise. "Oh no! Shizuka!" Mei looked at the battle once more and saw Shizuka on the ground, her hand holding her other hand which seemed very limp, and her whole body has been brutally bruised and battered, looks like Long.

"Now I wonder how shall I put an end to the Dark Shadow." Long said sinisterly as he stomped Shizuka on the chest, "Oh well. I'll tear you limb from limb." With that, he grabbed Shizuka's other arm. The kunoichi was deliberately kicking Long from behind, but the kicks were too weak to daze the Infinite Dragon. He then started twisting the arm he grabbed and in a short time…

CRACK.

"AAAAHHH!" Another cracking sound and Shizuka screamed in pain. "Urgh…! My… my hands…!" Long dropped the arm as it became limp. He then moved his feet away from Shizuka's stomach and moved to her lower body.

"Next… lower limb." Long said coldly as he stomped Shizuka's knee with such force that there was a loud cracking sound, followed with Shizuka once again screaming in agony, "Yes, scream louder. The lot of ninjas in Society of Shadow was louder than you in terms of screaming."

"No… stop it… stop it…!" Mei shook her head and wished she could've covered her ears on what happened, but alas her hands were tied. Witnessing Shizuka in pain destroyed her heart further that tears started welling up on her eyes. And it was even further that she heard another cracking sound.

And the next thing Long did was to lift up Shizuka's limp body while holding her in a choke hold. "So, my dear. Any last words?"

"Go… to… hell…" Shizuka said slowly, but hatefully. All it brought was just a grin on Long's face as he tightened the grip on Shizuka's neck, causing her to bleed.

"Shizuka!" Mei called out once more, now there was even more sadness in her eyes. Shizuka looked at her weakly and tried to force a smile.

"Mei…" Shizuka called out, knowing that her life would end soon, and she would reunite with Gekkou. However, when Mei called her to be not evil, she felt really glad. She tried to force a smile on her.

"Smile, huh. I'll wipe that foolish smile of yours… Now." As Long said that, he tightened his grip further.

And at that moment, a cracking sound was heard. Mei looked in horror as Shizuka spat further blood and the signs of life left her eyes and body. As if it wasn't enough, Long thrust his fist onto her body, impaling it and causing the remaining of her blood to come spraying out from her body.

Kaze no Shizuka was dead. And her death would mark the complete obliteration of Dark Shadow. "The Shadow has fallen from the face of this Earth."

"Shizuka! NOOOO!" Mei screamed as she saw Long dropping Shizuka's corpse to the ground. She couldn't hold her tears as she was heavily crying at the death of the last of the Dark Shadow.

"It was a nice showing." Abrellar said, finished recording, "Thank you for the opportunity, Long. This would generate a lot of money to fund in our further plans."

"Of course." Long nodded and grinned as he looked at the sky, "Ah look at that. The sun is about to set."

"You… what are you? ! How can you do this? !" Mei eventually shouted, albeit her tears still flowing from her eyes, "Who do you think you are that you can commit such thing? !"

"Who, me? I'm an ancient being." Long said casually, "I've guided you humans for so long. So if I want you to be my plaything whenever I get bored, you are to comply."

"Don't give me that nonsense! You are no God, you're a Devil!" Mei screamed. All of the sudden, she felt her strength being sapped away. It seemed that the Kushinada Precious set she's wearing was taking effect due to the sunset. However, she didn't pay any mind and continued to curse at Long, "I usually am not into such unnecessary violence. But to you… I will certainly make an exception! You'll pay for this!"

"Know your place, wench!" Slightly angered, Long slapped Mei on the face, "Accept your fate! You're all nothing but my plaything! And playthings…"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" A scream was heard. It turned out that Red Mask was leaping with all his might, trying to slash Long with his Masky Blade. Abrellar took notice and sent out two fireballs from both his hands. They hit Red Mask, but he was completely unfazed as he finished the slash to Long, knocking him away. Abrellar got no chance to retaliate as he was shot down several times by Deka Blue, enabling him and the rest to approach Mei.

"Mei, are you OK? !" Mega Yellow said as she used her Blade Arm to cut the ropes binding Mei as she got up.

"Chisato… everyone…" Mei was really glad that she was reunited with her friends. The clothes didn't seem to drain her energy further. The rest only gave a nod, until there were several bats trying to interfere… until Deka Blue shot all of them down.

"You're not going to disturb anyone." Deka Blue declared to the culprit, Abrellar. And the next thing he did was running towards him with the D-Rod ready, keeping him busy so he wouldn't interfere with everyone tending to Mei.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Bouken Pink asked.

"Well, a little, but overall I'm fine." Mei noted, until she realized that she wasn't that familiar with the warrior that just spoke to her, "And you are…?" Mei asked.

"Bouken Pink of the GoGo Sentai Boukenger." She answered, "My normal name is Nishihori Sakura. And… you must be Mei, right?"

"Yes. Sakura…" Mei nodded, "Thank you, for being with my friends while I'm away." It was until then that she realized that the remaining men are doing their best to avert their eyes from her. "Um…" Mei muttered, as her face started to become red.

"Nice getup." Mele sarcastically commented as she looked at her further, causing her to gasp a little and cover her exposed body quite a bit.

"No need to worry, we brought yours." Ninja Black reassured, "Now all we need is a safe place to change."

"Huh? Isn't that…!" Before they could do that, Mele was shocked as she looked at the ground, in particular Shizuka's corpse, "Shizuka…! What… what just happened here? !"

"Long killed her in cold blood…" Mei answered sadly, causing both Mega Yellow and Mele to gasp.

"My God…! Poor her…" Mega Yellow exclaimed, "And she was just so near to restarting her life anew…"

"This…!" Even for her, Mele felt quite horrible at Shizuka. As much as she tried, her attempt to avenge her master met an abrupt end by the hands of Long, "Long…! You went too far this time!" She said angrily as she looked at Long, who was caught in a fist fight with Red Mask. Of course Red Mask heard this too and this served to infuriate him further.

"You evil bastard! Spewing only bulls and nonsenses like you have the right to decide our fate!" Red Mask yelled as he managed to land a hit on Long's face, "Our fate is ours to decide! We won't sit by and let you do as you please!" Long just grinned and continued the fight with Red Mask.

"Erm, Mei, follow me a bit." Mega Yellow said as she dragged Mei away from the scene.

And several minutes later, Mei returned, now fully clothed again. "Whew, it feels good to be back in my old clothes again."

"Can I please have the Preciouses you were using?" Bouken Pink stated, which caused everyone to look at her in a rather weird expression, "I-it's not like I want to use them! It's the duty of SGS to safeguard Preciouses like this. We have to keep it from misuses like this…" However, as she looked at how Red Mask have been fighting Long, who was also joined by Abrellar, Bouken Pink knew what to do, "Though at this rate, I won't have the time to properly seal it. Let's hold it for awhile."

"I know." Mei said as she handled the garments and ribbon to Bouken Pink as she prepared to transform, "**Dino Buckler!**" With it, she transformed into Ptera Ranger. "Let's go, everyone!" She rallied as the team nodded and eventually they intervened the two battles between Red Mask against Long and Deka Blue against Abrellar, eventually merging the two fights into one.

* * *

The fight was even for both sides even if it's seven against two, as Long was a really powerful martial artist. Their fight were suddenly interrupted when there was a sound of gate opening.

"Heh heh heh…!" Long said as he looked behind, there was a bright light that appeared from their back, "It's here! The Sheol is finally opened! Well… which means he should come soon…"

"Looks like the life force drained from her was enough." Abrellar noted, looking at the stone blocks where Mei was bound was also shining. From there, a shadow of a man was walking through.

"This is it, gera." In a sudden, Top Galer landed to the ground as the shadow became clearer and clearer… it was actually a man in white jacket. "You finally returned here… Mikoto."

"Mikoto…? !" Red Mask recalled the name. He did see the name within the History of Super Sentai. Nakadai Mikoto, part of Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, otherwise known as Abare Killer. He started out unlike all other Sentai Warriors, he was evil. However, he had a change of heart for some reason and became a force of good, eventually sacrificing himself for many. 'So this man is…'

"So you prepared all these, Top? Interesting." The man, Nakadai Mikoto, part of the Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, said as he looked around.

"I don't have much time… my friend." Top Galer said as suddenly he started vanishing.

"Top! What the hell's happening to you? !" Mikoto said, slightly worried at his partner Burstosaur.

"I wasn't supposed to be in this world, but… I forced myself to exist here until you came…" Top Galer explained, his voice getting weaker and weaker, "The holy power of the woman did good. You stayed intact, gera…"

"Yeah, of course. But come on, are you gonna leave just like this?" Mikoto asked again, "I have to say, I do appreciate your company."

"No… I'll… always be with you, gera." Top Galer continued as suddenly his body turned into light, which entered Mikoto's bracelet as he gave out several final words, "Maybe I won't talk much… but my power… it's all yours… gera…"

"Top Galer…!" Mikoto called out, but soon, memories started to flow to his head. What Top Galer did recently, and why he did it… "I… understand."

"You…" Deka Blue said, recognizing the figure. Mikoto did come back in the past when the Dekarangers and Abarangers united to face the remnant of Evolians teaming up with the Alienizers.

"Hm? I'm seeing one familiar face here." Mikoto said as he looked at both Long and Abrellar, "And two unknown freaks."

"Ah, you're just the man I expected, Nakadai Mikoto." Long approached, "I've learned about your history, and I am interested in your efforts."

"Why thanks, there's no need to flatter me." Mikoto answered, smiling.

"I do have a proposal to you. Why don't you come with me?" Long then asked, "If you do, I can provide you as much Games as you want. Your life will be an interesting one, better than your previous one." Long grinned. He hoped that crossing the Sheol would've made Mikoto returned to his old evil self.

"Really, huh? Long, you're one hell of a guy…" Mikoto said as he shocked the rest of the Super Sentai. Does that mean he's going to be with Long? But the doubts were shed when suddenly Mikoto delivered a punch into Long's face, "One hell of a boring guy!"

"What? !" Abrellar said in shock, "But how… theoretically after crossing Sheol…"

"Top Galer has told me." Mikoto explained, "There is a holy energy which came from a certain woman. Top Galer delivered it to this gate, along with the ones transferred just recently. The holy energy is known to prevent the Sheol's corruption upon crossing the gate… So I'm myself. Not some stupid pawn of someone else like before!"

"Does that mean… that Top Galer planned this all along? !" Ninja Black said in shock.

"So that's why he had me captured…" Ptera Ranger concluded, "So this person would stay the same and uncorrupted…"

"And judging from how you do your plans, like this one." Mikoto said as he pointed to Shizuka's corpse, "I think you don't know what it means to really have fun." He then turned towards Red Mask, "Hey, you. Aba Red's lookalike."

"It's Red Mask!" Red Mask corrected.

"Let's see how much fun you can give to me." Mikoto said as he approached Red Mask, "I'll fight by your side for awhile and gauge how fun it is."

"O… okay." Red Mask nodded as he looked at Mikoto's great confidence, 'This man looks dangerous. Is he supposed to be the one? I hope my hunch is true.'

"Very good." As Mikoto said that, he pressed his Dino Minder and said in a calm way, "**Bakuryuu Change.**" With that, he transformed into his ranger form… Abare Killer.

"You're a gutsy person. I guess if you refuse me, then you warrant your death." Long said as he snapped his finger. The horde of Igaroids, Anaroids and Rinshis suddenly came to his side.

"That's a lot of them…" Bouken Pink noted as she prepared.

"Well it can make things more interesting… We'll just see about that." Abare Killer said as he cracked his knuckles.

"This is no time to back down like this. Let's go, everyone." Red Mask said as he moved forward, looking at Long, "Long… you'll learn not to underestimate us humans!"

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"Excitement at its finest. Abare Killer!"

"The Deep Sea Adventurer! Bouken Pink!"

"We are…!" All eight eventually shouted together, "**Super Sentai!**"

"We'll just see then…" Long said as he snapped his fingers, summoning the four Igaroids and a horde of Anaroids and Rinshis. "Get them."

"Let's go…" Red Mask was about to give the command, but Abare Killer already ran alone with his hyper speed and have started beating the horde of enemies with it, "Such power…!"

"Hey." Abare Killer suddenly stopped midway and folded his hands in front of him, unamused, "So am I to be your one man army? Get moving and kick some ass already." And as he said that, he then ran again with his speed and started beating any enemy he came across.

"Right!" Red Mask nodded as he ran forward, followed by the rest to fight against the enemy. In a quick moment, they wiped out the majority of it.

"Hmm… interesting, I'll take you on after all." Long said as he stepped forward, seeing most of the soldiers defeated.

On the other hand, Ptera Ranger confronted Abrellar alone. "Now what, miss?" Abrellar asked.

"That video…" Ptera Ranger said, pointing to the recording device Abrellar was holding, which contained scenes of carnage about Long brutalizing Shizuka to death, "I'm destroying it! You won't reap any fortunes from it!" But as she said that, the four Igaroids suddenly moved in front of Abrellar.

"Can you really do it?" Abrellar beckoned, "The four of these Igaroids, when combining their strengths, are very lethal. Regardless… get her."

"OK." The four Igaroids nodded as they prepared their swords and put them together, "Quadruple… CROSS BURST!" Swinging them upwards, they unleashed a massive shockwave that headed straight to Ptera Ranger.

"Toh!" However, she managed to take a leap upwards, with her Ptera Arrow ready, and four arrows to be shot. She took aim while still airborne and shot all of them simultaneously, all which went through the four Igaroids, from head to groin, in which all four exploded.

"What? ! How did that…" Abrellar was in shock, and didn't realize that Ptera Ranger landed right behind him. She quickly swung her bow, which hit him on the stomach, and made him lose grip on the recording device, throwing it upwards. And before the device landed, she had the device shot down, destroyed into pieces.

"I told you, you're not going to reap the fortune from such despicable act." Ptera Ranger said in an angry tone, "Prepare yourself!"

"Abrellar…" Long suddenly said as he elbowed Deka Blue and kicked him on the face, "You're still useful to me. Don't waste your life away." Abrellar just nodded and when Ptera Ranger shot down her arrow, trying to aim for the tube on his head, Abrellar was quick enough to dissolve into a swarm of bats and flew away.

"Guys…? !" Ptera Ranger eventually looked sideways and saw that Long had brought everyone down to the ground… including even Abare Killer.

"Pathetic. I suppose this is all you can muster." Long said. "People like you just make this world boring. Now I suppose I shall rid you from this world to make it more exciting."

"No, you're the one to be ridden away!" Mele was the first to get up, "You insult me, Rio-sama and everything in this existence… Long… prepare to die!" She ran forward and attempted to attack him several times. However, most of them were easily blocked by Long.

"Mele… do you know one thing?" Long suddenly said as he blocked Mele's kick, "You seem to be able to absorb my Phoenix-Ken well. But do you know who I absorb before I put you to death before?"

"What? !" Mele was shocked. She did remember that before turning into the huge dragon that took her life away, Long did consume his follower Sanyo of the Basilisk-Ken. And it would mean only one thing.

"Indeed. Gengi: Shoukeieika." Long recited and directed his ki to Mele as she suddenly felt her body completely light and was easily tossed away to the tree. "Now then…" Long was about to move further, but suddenly he felt like he was being shot two times on the chest. "Why you…!"

"You think you put us down like that easily, huh." Deka Blue said, as he folded his D-Sniper and got back from his sniping position.

"Mele gave us enough time because you gloat too much!" Mega Yellow said, also already shooting her Mega Sling, "Serves you right, you bastard… What next, your groin?"

"You really don't get it, do you?" Long said as he approached Deka Blue and attempted to strike him further, "You cannot kill me".

"Now! Mei! Jiraiya!" Red Mask suddenly yelled as he got up, along with Ninja Black. He was readying his Masky Blade and at this range, there's one thing they'd do…

"Ptera Arrow!"

"Black Bow!"

"Laser Arrow! Triple Arrow Strike!" Red Mask finalized the attack as the three shot down Long with their arrows. This caused an explosion around Long, which caused him to back away.

"I'm not going to just stand here like this. Not especially to a monster like you!" Bouken Pink added as she prepared her Hydro Shooter with her Parallel Engine at maximum, "Shooter Hurricane!" With that she shot down Long with a high pressure water stream that cornered him to a nearby rock.

"Monster…? !" Long said, breathing heavily and looking tired, "That's one way to call someone who guided you for centuries…" He couldn't even finish the words as suddenly golden arrows were shot down to him. It would appear that Abare Killer already used his Wing Pentact to conjure up the arrows all while he spoke. These arrows eventually stuck him to the rock.

"Well, guide THIS!" Abare Killer said as he started screaming and gathering power, "RRRAAAARRGGHH!" Further spikes sprouted out from his body as he ran forward. Twice, he smashed Long with his new spikes. Then he grabbed Long's shoulder and pushed him while still grabbing her. He pushed so hard that he made a hole through that rock and aimed straight to a nearby tree, where one of the arrows from the Wing Pentact was stuck there. Long was impaled with it as he started bleeding. Abare Killer then started to calm down as he taunted further, "With you ridden from this world, things should be more exciting now."

"Heh… what you did… is ultimately futile… You'll see soon…" Long said as Abare Killer was walking away from him. Shortly after, his body started to shine gold and exploded.

"It's… over?" Red Mask asked, looking at how Long has been destroyed, "It's quicker than I thought."

"Don't let up just yet…" Mele said as she approached the rest, "He's not bluffing when he said he's immortal. He really is… that's why he's called the Infinite Dragon."

"So, I guess he'll be back and I'll be fighting an immortal who can never die." Abare Killer said, nodding, "To inflict a mortal wound to the immortal. How exciting."

* * *

With what they had so far, the team buried Shizuka and prayed for her soul, praying that at least her attempt to try and redeem herself will be accepted in the Heavens. "Rest now, Kaze no Shizuka." Sakura prayed, "Reunite with your master Maboroshi no Gekkou up there. I'll… never forget you." She sighed sadly. This would mean that if she ever told this news to her ally Mogami Souta, who seemed to have a crush on Shizuka, he'll be extremely saddened.

"Shizuka… I'm sorry…" Mei also stated, "If only I wasn't this weak, I wouldn't…"

"Mei… what are you saying?" Chisato suddenly asked, "You did your best."

"But…"

"I know what you're thinking, Mei." Chisato cornered her, "You're probably thinking that because you're captured for quite a lengthy time, you think you're useless. That's totally wrong!"

"Chisato…" Mei looked at her.

"She's right, Mei." Sakura assured her as she was just done storing the Garment and Comb of Kushinada to the Precious storage box. "I don't know the details, but it seemed that you did not kill Gekkou on your own will. Am I right?"

"I…" Mei started to tremble as she remembered how she killed Gekkou, "I really didn't want to do it. But when I think on how you'll all blow up if I don't do it… I…" Her voice was also trembling, but Sakura held her on the shoulders, assuring her.

"Thank you, Mei. You did your best to protect me, Hoji and many people." Sakura said, "If I was put in your position, even if it was a heavy-hearted choice, I… I would do the same thing, and face the consequences. You should as well. Your will to protect is incredible."

"Sakura… I understand." Mei nodded.

* * *

In the meantime, Takeru and the rest were meeting with Mikoto. "So… you're called Mikoto?" Takeru affirmed, in which Mikoto nodded.

"Yeah, so?" Mikoto asked, "What do you want?"

"What are you planning to do now?" Takeru asked.

"Hmph… Personally, I don't know." Mikoto said as he shrugged, "It looks like this time my stay in this world will be a more permanent one. There's a lot of thing I gotta find out."

"Well this world isn't the same world you once arrived to." Hoji said, "Otherwise, for instance, Takeru would've been an old man."

"Huh? Interesting thing you say." Mikoto said, his curiosity piqued, "What kind of world do you think we're in?"

"It looks like the Earth… but it's not the Earth we know." Jiraiya said, "Many people from different timelines appear together here. We're trying to uncover that mystery."

"Heh. Then good luck with that." Mikoto said as he turned away. "I got my own business."

"Wait a minute!" Takeru called out, "You don't want to come with us? !"

"I prefer being solo for a while." Mikoto said nonchalantly, "If you really want me on your team, you got a lot more to prove. Got it?" He then started walking away as Takeru witnessed. However, he stopped at one time and said, "Oh and one more thing…" Mikoto then looked at Mele, and said, "Nice getup, sexy woman."

"E-eh? !" Mele suddenly blushed as someone called her sexy. But that lasted for about one second as she shook her head and scolded, "How dare you! Only Rio-sama can call me that!"

"Heh heh…" Mikoto, feeling amused, continued to walk away.

"Takeru, if he's really the White one as it was said…" Jiraiya noted as he looked at Takeru.

"I know, but we can't force him like that." Takeru answered as he looked sideways and saw the rest coming to him, "Oh! I guess you're done paying your respects."

"Takeru… thank you for everything." Sakura said, bowing, "The Precious is safe, and I met you guys. I'll never forget this."

"No, no. We're the ones who are glad to meet you." Takeru replied, "If it's not for you, we wouldn't be able to make it here."

"I have one more thing to give to you." Sakura said as she took out something… a small ball which enlarged into a normal sized ball, "This is the Super Sentai Ball from AkaRed. He said to give it to you."

"AkaRed…? !" Takeru was shocked. He did recall that name by Hiroaki during their first meeting, the one who spearheaded the attack against Rufecil. "This… how did you know about him…"

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to talk about this earlier, but I and the Boukengers have met AkaRed in the past." Sakura said, "When I came to this bizarre world, he entrusted me with this. This is not the only Super Sentai Ball, though, but he said only us Super Sentai can use it. This will be a tremendous help."

"Okay." Takeru nodded as he picked up the ball from her hand, "I won't let you and the rest of the teams after me down with this."

"My mission is done." Sakura said as she took two steps behind, "The rest is up to you, Takeru, although I'll always be ready if you need help. Take care." With that she turned away and left.

"Sakura!" Mei called one last time and as Sakura turned back to them, Mei started waving her hand. "Good bye! I'll miss you!" Shortly after, the rest also followed.

"_Good bye_." Both Hoji and Jiraiya gave a heartfelt, even if in English, farewell as they also waved their hands. Sakura nodded as she gave the team her most precious treasure she gained while being with the Boukengers… her smile. Afterwards, she walked away.

"Well, it's been quite a day!" Takeru said, flexing. "Let's go home for the moment!"

"Hey, about that Mikoto guy…?" Chisato brought up, but it was quickly shot down for the moment.

"We'll worry about him later. Rest is pretty important, you know! Mei definitely needs it!" Takeru added, looking at Mei, who truly looked quite tired. "Let's go!"

As the team went off, Mei gave one last look to Shizuka's grave and eventually followed the team to leave the place.

The team has rescued their teammate and gained a powerful weapon. A new ally, Nakadai Mikoto, has also emerged, but with his history, would he bring fortune or misfortune to the team? Keep on moving, Super Sentai!

* * *

"He's dead? !" Back in the enemy base, Gasha Dokuro was really shocked when Abrellar brought the news. "Bah! Turns out he's just a weakling! What were we smoking, beaten by a piece of crap like him!"

"This… this feels so humiliating…!" Shibolena clenched her fist hearing it, "To be beaten by a weakling like him…!"

"Well I guess this means Mei isn't dead yet. Good." Lamie nodded, "Because if anyone's killing her, that had better be me."

"Regardless of what happened, I suppose the status has been restored." Abrellar declared, "That means, we'll continue like usual. As if nothing has happened…"

"I heard that." A familiar voice was heard. To everyone's shock, as they turned towards the source of the voice, Long was standing there, unharmed. "And frankly speaking… that's not gonna happen."

"Long? ! But you…!" Abrellar said in disbelief.

"They don't call me Infinite Dragon for nothing." Long said as he walked forward, "I am immortal."

"Then explain how did you suddenly come back despite…" Gasha Dokuro was about to ask, but was instead punched in the face for his troubles.

"You shall not question me as such, you numbskull." Long said cockily. As he looked at Lamie and Shibolena, he just grinned as they sighed.

'Here we go again, with this depressing days with the bastard…' They both thought the same thing as Long was once again leading them.

* * *

"Urrgh… Where am I?" Kiros finally regained his consciousness after losing it when Mei smashed his head to the ground. 'So I got knocked out from that? ! How embarrassing… But at least now I know… she's definitely on my hit list.' He thought as he grinned, 'If I'm fixing my record, I guess she'll be a good contender.'

He was about to get up, but felt like he's not alone on the bed he's sleeping at. He looked at the side, and saw a woman in white, also sleeping with him. "What the hell…?"

Who is this woman…?

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: Yep, that concludes the arc which brought us to the last member of the team: Mikoto/Abare Killer! However, he doesn't seem to be an easy one to get along. I guess you'll have to wait until next chapter to know how Takeru get him officially to the team, but knowing Mikoto, it'll be a hard one... Also next chapter, you'll see who this woman next to Kiros is! Stay tuned!

Also as of note, like Yuusuke in the first team, Sakura left the team. I hope you enjoyed her time with the team. I do say she was more involved than Yuusuke, but... yeah. Bring on the reviews then!

P.S: No offense to Dark Shadow fans. I'm okay with them, Shizuka's brutal death doesn't mean I hate her or something... Once again, apologies!


	17. Dividing Game

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Wow, it's been awhile since I updated this team. I hope this longass chapter will be worth it. Happy reading!**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 17: Dividing Game**

* * *

After receiving the Super Sentai Ball, Takeru and the rest proceeded to train on how to use it. Eventually, they found out about its secrets and after rigorous training, they were able to utilize it. However, the power output they produced seemed to be never enough. It couldn't destroy the dummy located in Bonds when it was set in the highest rate.

"I'm sure that was the secret of how to use the Ball." Chisato said, wiping a sweat from her head after yet another failed attempt to destroy the dummy using the Super Sentai Ball, "What are we missing now?"

"Perhaps it's because we're of six people." Jiraiya noted, "I don't get what is the details of that, but the prophecy Takeru said was about 'Seven Colors'… maybe it has something to do with how to effectively use the Ball?"

"Either that, or that Sakura has dwindled into a gigantic liar." Mele scoffed off, sighing that they're not making any process, "I bet if Rio-sama is here, any prophecy will be nulled. He can utilize the Ball himself."

"Don't get too high on it." Takeru reprimanded, "And I'm sure Sakura is never a liar. Which just means, we have to find a way to get that Mikoto to join us officially."

"That I can agree. But I think he's going to be a hard one." Hoji said, sitting down on a bench. "From what I can see on him, he's really aloof and has a _dangerous _aura surrounding him. You may want to be careful…" But as Hoji said that, he saw Mei silently walking away, her bow still in hand, "Mei, what are you doing?" Concerned on how she was pushing her body limits, Hoji pursued her.

"I'll take Hoji's warnings in consideration." Takeru nodded, "First we gotta find out where Mikoto is…"

"I'll find him myself." Mele then stepped away, heading to the teleporter room, "I'm still pissed that he called me sexy…"

"But that was a compliment, Mele!" Chisato said, "And I honestly agree with what he said… you've got a body that women would kill for."

"Shut up! Only Rio-sama can compliment me like that!" Mele protested as she eventually walked away in annoyance, but not after she said something, "I'll contact you when I find something."

"I bet she's just flustered." Jiraiya teased and thankfully since Mele was out of the room, she didn't come back to scoff at him as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Hoji eventually came across Mei, he found her preparing to shoot another shooting target with her bow and arrow. This time, she continued to shoot on perfect mark. 'Impressive… she's improving.' Hoji thought as he looked at Mei's continued perfect shots.

However, eventually her body couldn't take it and she fell to her knees, exhausted. "Mei!" Hoji approached her as he helped her get up.

"I… I'm fine…" Mei tried to reassure him and as she was helped to get up, she was preparing to pull the string once more. However, Hoji held her arm, and stopped her for shooting further.

"Yes, I know you've got perfect score for this one, but know your limits!" Hoji scolded, "Do you even know how much the Super Sentai Ball drains your strength? Get some rest."

"I…" Mei hung her head low hearing it, "I feel so powerless, Hoji. All I do is rely on you guys or get into trouble…" At that point, she started recalling her records of battle in the new world, it was mostly team-based victories. Alone, she usually would attract trouble, starting from getting brainwashed, into getting captured, or getting afflicted with a curse. It might be selfish of her, but she started yearning the days where she was more than capable of single handedly defeating monsters. And she knew if she was tardy, it would result her friends sharing the same fate as Shizuka. "Don't worry, this is nothing. Compared to being powerless resulting the loss of friends… This pain is… nothing!"

In the same time, Hoji was surprised. Unknowingly, this was how he trained back then. Even if he was extremely tired, he'd still push on. And it seemed that Mei has determined herself that she would train. Thus he nodded and walked away, "Well, on second thought, if you think you can push on your limits, then go ahead… Just remember two things." Suddenly Hoji turned back and said further, "One… know your limits and when to quit. Two… you should do this training with a smile, not because you're forced."

"Um… okay!" At Hoji's advice, Mei replied with a smile, she seemed to have forgotten her feeling of powerlessness. As Hoji left, Mei felt her spirit rekindled as she continued to train her archery, scoring perfect from time to time.

* * *

The Dino Curry original house. This was the house that served as the Abarangers' headquarters. Mikoto arrived there, and surprised that it's empty. He did recall about being taken here before eventually regaining his confidence. In this new world, he wondered if they're still here. Opening the door, he found out something surprising…

The Dino Curry was empty.

"Heh. Weird… at least there should be that old man." Mikoto muttered as he looked around. He's guessing that most of the Abarangers wouldn't stick here forever. And they actually did last time he knew. Hakua Ryouga resumed his international environmental investigation job, accompanied with his niece Mai. Sanjou Yukito gained an international fame as a chiropractor and traveled overseas, apparently marrying his friend Imanaka Emiri and made her his assistant. Itsuki Ranru resumed her job as a mechanic and might have been branching out as a racer, or at least testing the mechanism of her jobs. And of course, Dino Earth resident Asuka returned to Dino Earth and lived there. All of the sudden, the Dino Curry became so silent. So unlike what Mikoto thought to be.

'It used to be lively here.' Mikoto recalled how Ryouga just wouldn't shut up about their friendship, no matter how much he rejected it. Or at least innocent Mai trying to befriend him, something he couldn't say 'no' to. Just then, he saw a piece of paper. A scribble paper to be exact. Picking it up, Mikoto was shocked that it was a scribble of the Abarangers, including him. Written on each Abaranger were some positive comments and on Abare Killer's was…

"Nakadai-sensei is really cool!"

Mikoto guessed that it would've been drawn by Mai. A smile formed on his mouth, but quickly turned into a cocky comment, "You still got long ways to go to be an artist, kid."

Putting the paper on the table, Mikoto went out and wondered what he would do. "Hmm… maybe that lookalike…" He was thinking of something as he walked…

* * *

Back in the villains' quarters, the majority of them gathered on Kiros' room, where they saw a woman in white lying on his bed. "This is the woman you speak of?" Gasha Dokuro said, looking at the woman, "Hm… never seen someone like that."

"There is a familiar feeling coming from her though." Abrellar noted, trying to sense something from the woman's skins, "Hm… was it that thing like that… Trinoid? One who sought the resurrection of Dezumozorlya…?"

"Indeed… throughout my days, I think I recognize this person." Long noted, "Disciple of Light Lijewel. However, the last I know of her, she's regressed into an infant form."

"Infant? What we're seeing here is an older woman." Shibolena corrected, "Something must've happened that she's forced to grow again. Or perhaps…"

"It could be a side-effect of travelling through Sheol. If she came here from that." Lamie tried to guess, "But wasn't Sheol supposed to increase the evilness within rather than force-aging?"

"I would assume that this Sheol probably changed her to the point where she's the most aggressive and evil back in the days." Abrellar assumed as well, "The gate was such a mystery. I'd love to investigate further but it seems that it won't be opening it again soon."

"Yep. And we got more pressing matters, like beating the Super Sentai." Kiros added, until he looked at the woman, referred as Lijewel, "But… man! This is such a babe! I'd love to be her prince charming to give her a kiss to wake her up."

"Stop toying around, Kiros. Those dirty lips of yours aren't going to make her love you." Shibolena reprimanded him, although she did give out one more sarcastic comment, "It could wake her up, if only how dirty your lips are to hers and she'd feel disgusted."

"What did you say? !" Kiros felt insulted as he looked at Shibolena rather angrily. However, Long put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I will be generous for once. What says you if I wake her up… and make her fall for you?" Long's offer shocked Kiros and even the others as it sounded genuine.

"Ergh… coming from you, this sounds like a hoax…" Kiros grunted as he thought of his further decision carefully.

"At least just wake her up." Gasha Dokuro said, "With or without this 'falling for Kiros' bull, at least we'll have more firepower against the Super Sentai!"

"Hm, yes. I heard the Sheol spat out a Super Sentai warrior too, right?" Lamie also said, reminded of the reports of the appearance of Nakadai Mikoto.

"Fine. Just you better keep your words for making her fall for me." Kiros finally decided. Long just nodded with a grin as he suddenly turned into a golden mist, which eventually enveloped the sleeping Lijewel…

* * *

Long, however, did not just concentrate himself in doing things with Lijewel. Beforehand, he had sent a Rinshi… Shikamonoha of the Rin-Jyuu Platypus Fist. Apparently a good friend of Dokomo as well as the Five Venoms, he wrecked upon the innocent people. "Hahahah! This never gets old after all!" Shikamonoha said as he had minor Rinshi also attack many humans. And even some of them brought about one poor salaryman.

"Please! Show some mercy…!" The man begged, but Shikamonoha smirked.

"Really? I guess so…" Shikamonoha said, giving a man a glitter of hope, until Shikamonoha opened his beaks in a psychotic way, "NOT! Rin-Jyuu Platypus Fist! Doku no Atoashi!" He used his hind to eventually slap the man, knocking him away. The man's cheek was covered with some liquid, which didn't get off, and in turn it caused him severe pain as if he was poisoned.

"Squirm more, humans! It just feeds more power to my Rinki!" Shikamonoha said as he laughed, seeing the man in pain, "Well now, who's next…"

However before he could walk further, someone went right ahead and kicked him on the face, knocking him away. "What? ! Who…!" Shikamonoha growled as he got up after rolling on the ground, only to recognize the kicker, "You…! Well, if it isn't the traitor Mele…"

"That's my line!" Mele, already transformed, shot back, "If your allegiance is with that Long, then you warrant death! Your loyalty should lie on Rio-sama only!"

"Pfft! That loser isn't even worth to be in my mind!" Shikamonoha taunted, "Master Long is more powerful, and even if his school was Gen Jyuu Ken, he accepted us! You're the traitor that needs to die for not following the school goes!"

"You idiot. What I follow isn't the school of Rin Jyuu Ken. But Rio-sama!" Mele said confidently, "And you, traitor of Rio-sama… will be executed now!" She ran forward and tossed away any Rinshi that got in her way, eventually caught in a fist fight against Shikamonoha.

"I heard what you did to my fellow friends…!" Shikamonoha, while exchanging blows to Mele, said angrily, "Dokomo… Braco…! You killed them… my hatred to you goes beyond your betrayal to the school!"

"Anyone who insults Rio-sama must die!" Mele stated back as she launched a flying kick once more. However, it was dodged by Shikamonoha. "What…? !"

"You let your guard down! Rin Jyuu Platypus Fist! Doku no Atoashi!" Covering his fist with poisonous mud like before, he attempted to slap Mele on the face. She was steady and thinking how to block it…

Until flashes of white went through Shikamonoha and beat him down, causing him to drop some of his mud on the ground, one that Mele was able to roll away and dodge. "What? ! Who goes there? !" Shikamonoha said as he tried to look at the perpetrator… which turned out to be Abare Killer.

"Yo." He greeted, towards both the monster and Mele.

"I asked, who the hell are you? !" Shikamonoha asked once more, seemingly furious.

"Oh, you want my name? Well, better take note then." Abare Killer said as he unleashed his Wing Pentact… and proceeded to write his name on the air. "And if you can't read… that's 'Abare Killer' to you."

"You! What are you doing here? !" Mele yelled at him, "Don't get in my way. It's my job to execute traitors who dare diss Rio-sama."

"You know, you're working in a slug's pace. I can make it quicker." Abare Killer said cockily and once again, he used his super speed to overwhelm Shikamonoha.

"Gah! Agh, damn it! I will have to retreat for the moment! I'll remember this, Abare Killer!" Shikamonoha regretfully said as he gathered what Rinshi he could and eventually vanished.

"So… how are you doing… Miss Sexy?" Both de-morphing, Mikoto began teasing Mele for the heck of it.

"You bastard! I told you only Rio-sama can call me that!" Mele angrily yelled at Mikoto, "Besides, my name is Mele, not 'Miss Sexy'!"

"Heh. Whatever this Rio does, I bet I can do better." Once again being cocky, Mikoto once again boasted, which only served to rile Mele further. He's grinning. Clearly he's enjoying it. 'This woman is really cute when she's angry. Wonder how much I can push her further…'

"Why you…!" Mele growled, really urged to raise her fist and punch Mikoto on the face, but at that moment, the moaning of the man caught their attention. Mele wasn't even trying to help, but suddenly, Mikoto was the one approaching the man.

"Are you OK?" Mikoto said, surprisingly concerned.

"Ugh… I feel sick…" The man moaned in pain.

"This is poison. But don't worry, I can extract this poison…" Mikoto said as he reached something from his coat… and unleashed a scalpel. "Where does it hurt?"

"F… face…" The man said weakly, "He slapped me… there…"

"OK, this is gonna hurt a bit, but you'll be fine." Mikoto said as he readied the scalpel.

"N… no…! Hospital… please…!" The man suddenly begged, but Mikoto didn't bother to even honor his request. All he needed was just say some words to assure him.

"Dr. Nakadai Mikoto at your service. You know how my reputation as a doctor fares. If it's me, I can do a surgery on the outdoor. And I've got the tools ready just for your predicatement."

The man was shocked that he heard about the legendary doctor Nakadai Mikoto. Trusting him, he laid relaxed as Mikoto cut down his cheek with his scalpel and pushed on, extracting some green liquid that appeared from the cheek and put them in a small potion. "There we go… Feeling better?"

"Oh… much!" The man said, overjoyed as he was able to get up, "Thank you, Doctor!"

"Wow… you're actually famous." Mele said as she saw the man walk away.

"That's actually nothing." Mikoto said as he recalled that he was gifted since birth. It's true that his gift was because of part of Dezumozorlya within him, but he's gotten used to it. He then gave Mele a look, as if he's planning something.

"What's with that stare?" Mele asked, suspicious, but then Mikoto reached out his Dino Minder.

"**Bakuryuu Change.**" In a sudden, once again Mikoto turned into Abare Killer and approached Mele.

"What, you picking a fight? !" Mele tried to prepare herself, but before she could even transform, Abare Killer got to her and carried her in his shoulder and suddenly ran off with extreme speed. "Hey! Let go!" Mele yelled but he never bothered to reply.

He took her to the nearby woods, and also gathered vines here and there. Using them, he had Mele tied to a tree. "What are you doing? ! Let me go!" Surprisingly the binding was tight enough that even Mele couldn't budge free.

"Well, I have a small project going and am going to present it to you… but I just gotta make sure you stay put rather than running off." Abare Killer said as he saluted mockingly, "Well, I'll see you soon." And once again with his extreme speed, he ran off, leaving Mele shocked that he read her plans, she wouldn't want to bother an annoying person like him and would just go and reveal his location to Takeru so he'd handle the rest. But at that point, she's a little tied up to move.

However, Abare Killer returned in no more than 30 minutes. And when he reached there, he used his Wing Pentact to untie Mele. "Ouch, that hurts… What the hell was that? !" Mele said angrily.

"Well, here." Abare Killer said, handing down a potion which was filled with transparent liquid. "I made a medicine that would enhance strength. Use it to your friends, they'll need it."

"Why are you suddenly being this generous?" Mele asked, still suspicious at him.

"Well, this Long seems a little too dangerous." Abare Killer admitted, "So I'm going to give a present before I come in with you."

"Huh? You, coming with us? Didn't you say you were going solo beforehand?" Mele continued to ask.

"Changed my mind." Abare Killer answered, "Well, I'll be seeing you soon!" With that, he suddenly ran off with his speed again, leaving Mele dumbfounded.

"There he goes again…" Mele sighed, as she looked at the potion, 'Well if it's to beat Long, guess it's fair game. But I'd rather not reveal it in public…'

However, when Mele was out of sight, Abare Killer stopped and turned back, reverting to Mikoto, and then suddenly his face formed a grin.

"_Game Start…_"

* * *

It was dinner time for the Super Sentai. In the kitchen, Mei and Chisato were preparing to cook something, in particular a beef stew. "Hey, I wonder if they'll like the stew we are making." Mei asked, curious.

"They'll love it. Plus, it's a healthy mix between meat and vegetables." Chisato, the one who mainly did the boiling, "How about you have a taste of it for yourself?"

"Sure!" Mei said as she grabbed a spoon and took a sip of the cooked water, "Oh my, this is good! Chisato, you sure are a good cook!"

"Well, I'd love to taste your cooking next time." Chisato cheered, "By the way, Hoji said you're kinda overexerting yourself." At that point, Mei was a little silent. She didn't know she'd worry her friends like this. But Chisato just smiled at her, "Don't do anything rash, okay? I just hope this meal will be rejuvenating your strength."

"It sure will." Mei nodded, agreeing.

"All right, we're done!" Chisato said as she turned off the stove and put the stew into six bowls. "Now we just have to…" But as soon as she said that, Mei suddenly felt limp and fell towards Chisato, it's a good thing she grabbed her, "Mei!"

"Ugh… I'm sorry… I think I did overwork myself…" Mei apologized, "You're right… I need to know my strength better…"

"For now, you just sit on the dining room, okay?" Chisato suggested as she carried her out from the kitchen, "You've helped enough. Thank you." As Mei nodded, Chisato helped carrying her out to the dining room.

However, just as she left… Mele suddenly rematerialized, hiding all the time using her Chameleon traits. 'Okay, now is the time…' Mele thought as she also put out the potion she got from Mikoto… and poured them to one of the bowl. 'Whoever the lucky guy is… better be grateful that they'd feel great after eating this.'

Once she's done pouring the liquid, she put the bottle amongst other bottles as she quickly became invisible again. It was at that time Chisato re-entered along with Jiraiya, whom she asked to help in place of Mei, putting the bowls in two trays that they carried each.

"_Huh?_" Jiraiya suddenly noticed that the ground felt slightly wet, and there were some footsteps on the ground.

"What's the matter, Jiraiya?" Chisato asked.

"No, nothing. Let's go." Jiraiya dismissed such thing and eventually they both walked away out of the kitchen.

* * *

"Well then, time to eat!" Eventually, when all of the Super Sentai members were together in the dining table, everyone started eating the beef stew on their bowls.

"Wow, this is good stuff!" Takeru noted, "You girls really are good cooks?"

"Hee hee…" Mei giggled, "I'm glad you liked it. But I'm sure between your teams there's also better chefs than me. Besides, Chisato was the one doing most of the jobs. " She then humbly deprecated herself.

"Hmm… chefs, huh…" Takeru thought, thinking of his Maskman squad. Which one was the good cook… and unfortunately none of them ever cooked, "Not sure if I can deduce. I think none of the Maskman cooks… How about you, Jiraiya?"

"We opened up a crepe stand for our ninja disguise." Jiraiya said just once he finished chewing his rice, "So we can be sure that everyone at least can cook crepe… but not sure about other types of food."

"Well to be honest, I wasn't that much of a cook when I was with the Zyurangers." Mei also tried to remember her time with the Zyurangers, "It was mostly Boi who cooked the food, though sometimes his foods were a bit lacking in taste. So I secretly got to learn to cook by myself. With books. I suppose I didn't have the time to show how I cook to the rest…"

"They'll praise you, that's for sure." Chisato cheered on her as she looked at Mele, "Oh, how about you, Mele?"

"Hey, I do not know whatever the Gekirangers are cooking." Mele shot down the question, "Besides, Rio-sama never quite bothered with food. There are other ways to sustain our hunger back in the days and if he felt bored, he just went out to the human world and eat by himself. So cool…"

"Seems like he's quite distant with you." Hoji commented, "Then again, when you're an undead, you don't need food."

"Ooh, then how about you, Hoji?" Chisato then got her attention to Hoji, "Is there any Dekarangers that does cooking?"

"That? Well, we don't cook. Usually for food we visit a restaurant or ate at the cafetar—" Hoji's words were suddenly interrupted as he dropped his spoon, "Urgh…!" He suddenly let out a grunt of pain as suddenly he dropped his head onto the table, or in particular his plate, shocking the whole team.

"My God!" Takeru exclaimed in shock as he got up and approached Hoji, "Hoji! You OK? !"

"Hoji!" Everyone circled around Hoji as they tried to check what happened to him. Only when Mei touched him that she realized what's going on, "This… this is a serious fever…! It's like poison!"

"Poison? !" Chisato was shocked hearing it, "No way! I couldn't have served …! Mei, you tasted it with me, right?" In which Mei nodded.

"That means someone must've poured the poison at a certain time…!" Takeru said as he walked away, "I'm going to investigate the kitchen! Take care of Hoji!"

As Takeru left, Mele was equally shocked looking at the result of her doing. 'Poison? ! But didn't he say it's an empowering liquid…? ! Or is it just an earlier symptom before the effect takes place?' At that point, when she looked above, she was shocked that Jiraiya was glaring at her. "What?"

"Mele… I don't want to believe this, but…" Jiraiya said, his tone cold, but angry at the same time, "It was you, wasn't it? The one to give that poison?"

"Jiraiya!" Chisato yelled, "Are you accusing that Mele attempted to poison us? !"

"I saw some liquids on the ground and heard some footsteps." Jiraiya explained, "I thought it's just my imagination, but then it dawned to me that Mele can get invisible, with her being a Chameleon fighter. So… it's you, isn't it?"

"… Yeah, so?" Mele answered as blunt as she could. She somehow was worried, but deep down she wanted to believe that it was just earlier symptom, Hoji would be fine if he survived. She'd rather not reveal her card.

"No way… then when I was away because I felt tired…" Mei said in shock, "Mele… how could you…?"

"_Damn you!_" Jiraiya angrily raised her fist in anger and tried to punch Mele on the face, but she blocked the punch, "So you really want to destroy us from the inside, for the sake of this Rio, huh? ! How dare you spread such lies that you need our help to defeat Long!"

"What did you say? !" Mele equally shouted, "I am serious when I said I need your help to defeat Long! This has nothing to do with it!"

"Then why did you try to kill us? !" Jiraiya yelled, he was usually calm, but this time, the prospect of betrayal riled him up to a great extent, "What if it got me, Mei, Chisato… or even Takeru? !"

"That…!" Mele was about to retort again, until someone put her hand on Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya, cut it out!" Chisato reprimanded, being the one to stop the fighting, "There has to be something behind this. The Gekirangers didn't approve Mele for no reason!"

"They might've been fooled by this trickster." Jiraiya said, still angered, "No better than the Youkai, she surely is…"

"Are you comparing me to some group of weaklings? !" Mele angrily retorted, not taking the comment well, "If you really wanna know how different I am… then I'll happily show you!"

"Guys, stop!" Chisato once again tried to stop the in-fighting. And luckily for them, the alarm was ringing, "Oh good. Listen, we can talk about this later. For now we should concentrate on whatever chaos is happening. Okay? !" She then looked towards Mei, "Mei, I think you should stay for now. Take care of Hoji."

Mei nodded for a moment, and for the moment, Jiraiya and Mele eventually stopped their feud. However, their dislike towards each other had become more apparent. As Mei took Hoji to the sick bay, she looked at how the team spirit seemed to be broken. However, she had other thing to think about, especially about the happening at that day.

'If only I was stronger and didn't let my weakness show, this wouldn't have happened… Hoji… I'm sorry… it's all my fault…'

* * *

In the meantime, Takeru was checking the kitchen. 'Hmm… well there are the steps…' He was aware of what happened to the outside, but he chose to investigate the kitchen further. The steps did look like Mele's footsteps. 'So Mele did this… but perhaps there are other things at work… Let me see…'

Takeru then checked the case of bottles located on a table. He found the bottle Mele used before. 'Huh? What's this sign?' On the bottle there was an insignia. It felt familiar with him. 'Where have I seen this before…? As if I just saw it recently… Wait…!' He started to remember that it looked like… a shape of a visor… and he did saw the visor on Abare Killer's helmet.

Before he could deduce further, he heard the alarm ringing. 'Damn, I have to delay this investigation for a bit.' Takeru thought as got out of the kitchen…

* * *

The city was once again in chaos as Shikamonoha was terrorizing the innocents. "Come out, wherever you are, Super Sentai! Or these people suffer!" He yelled, beckoning the Super Sentai to come. 'Yes, that'd be it. The mission from Master Long. But it doesn't hurt to gather more power of human suffering more so I can beat down the Super Sentai!'

And speaking of the devil, shortly after Shikamonoha was blasted with several blasts as Red Mask, Ninja Black and Mega Yellow arrived with their blasters at hand. "You want us, here we are." Red Mask beckoned.

"So you've come!" Shikamonoha said as he prepared his stance, but something bugged him, "Huh? Just three?"

"More than enough to beat you!" Mega Yellow yelled as she charged right to the monster, but her path was suddenly blocked by a horde of Rinshi.

"_Move!_" Ninja Black yelled as he started fighting against the Rinshi, along with the two. 'He's trying to do something using this horde as a wall. Gotta reach him first!'

The fight drawn out long enough, until suddenly a sharp blade was shot out from the air, hitting both the Rinshis and Ninja Black, and the blade was heading to Shikamonoha.

"Too late! Rin-Jyuu Platypus Fist, Dokushouheki!" Shikamonoha exclaimed as he hit the ground and summoned a green sphere around him, covering him. The blade stopped… and revealed that it was Mele's tongue.

"Tch… too late…" Mele said in regret, "That barrier is not just impenetrable, but also poisons anyone who touches it. If it hits us, we'll be like Hoji."

"You still had a gall to call his name like that? !" Ninja Black, still angered, yelled to Mele, "And were you trying to kill me? !"

"You're in the way, that's why!" Mele retorted, pushing Ninja Black away, "If you wipe those Rinshis out quick enough I would've gotten more time to stab him before he formed the barrier!"

"And you're being invisible while doing that? !" Ninja Black retorted again, "Or perhaps… you're just trying to kill me? ! Like you did to Hoji? !"

"Accusing me again? !" And in a quick moment, both Mele and Ninja Black were arguing so hard that even Red Mask and Mega Yellow had to fight alone.

"What the heck is with those two?" Red Mask wondered.

"Well… Jiraiya thought Mele was the one poisoning Hoji." Mega Yellow explained, "I don't know, but… there seems to be more to it…"

"I saw Mele's footprints on the kitchen." Red Mask noted, "But even if Mele was the one delivering it, I think there's something behind this all. I knew Mele wouldn't do this."

"Ha! Go ahead and argue! It'll do much better for me!" Shikamonoha said as he prepared a stance, "Rin-Jyuu Platypus Fist! Dokubutsu wa Utsu!" Punching the barrier from the inside, he unleashed shots of poison from the barrier.

"Damn it!" Red Mask noticed it quick enough as he and Mega Yellow moved quick enough to tackle both Ninja Black and Mele away, dodging from the poison.

"Well I guess we have to try whether Mele was right or not." Mega Yellow said as she combined her Mega Sniper with Mega Sling, "Sling Sniper!" She then shot down the barrier… but it did nothing. "Oh no…! But maybe there's not enough power…!"

"If we use the Super Sentai Ball, we may be able to dent it!" Ninja Black suggested, "But… we don't have Hoji and Mei, even six people wouldn't be able to unleash its full potential and…" He then looked at Mele, "One of us is…"

"What? !" Mele shot back, "This is ridiculous. All you do is bark, no biting. You dare insult me one more time and that'd be the last thing you say!"

"Cut this crap at once!" Red Mask yelled and he pointed to the enemy, "That one is your enemy, not your fellow friend!"

"Takeru, I'm not sure if we can…" Ninja Black said, dejected.

"At any rate, we can't make a dent like this." Red Mask said, "We'll have to retreat. Jiraiya, if you would!"

"… Right." Dejected, Ninja Black prepared to throw his smoke bomb so the team could retreat. However, before the smoke bomb was thrown, Red Mask noted something as if they were being watched…

As the smoke bomb was thrown and the team escaped, Shikamonoha turned off his barrier. "Bah, pussies. All of them! Oh well, now I'll just make humanity suffer more so more power for me. And next time, they're all dead."

Unknown to him, the whole battle was being observed… by Mikoto who was hiding nearby. "Heh heh… isn't this interesting. How do you solve this puzzle, I wonder… Red Mask, isn't it? Heh heh heh…"

* * *

Back in Bonds, Takeru immediately visited the sick bay, where Mei was taking care of Hoji. "How is he, Mei?" Takeru asked.

"His fever is getting worse." Mei said, worried as she squeezed the water from the head compressor towel to put on Hoji's forehead. "Takeru, I…"

"What?" Takeru asked.

"I over-trained this morning…" Mei told him about her attempts to train even harder, pushing her limits.

"Well… that's a good thing, right?" Takeru said, smiling.

"I know, but I didn't take account to my own strength…" Mei said and told him about the past happenings, "When Shizuka was killed, I was thoroughly crushed that I wasn't strong enough to save her… and if I am stronger, that capture event wouldn't happen… and I will be able to protect you all better. But… because I didn't notice my limit… these all happened…"

"I noticed that Chisato took you to the dining room earlier and called Jiraiya." Takeru said, "What does that have to do with this?"

"Because of me over-training… I got tired quick while helping Chisato cooking, and it left an opening for Mele…" Mei said, her voice got saddened further, "Oh, if only…!"

"What's done is done, Mei. It's not your fault…" Takeru tried to cheer her up, "And even so, I doubt that this could be Mele's doing. Maybe she's tricked or something."

"How do you deduce that?" Mei asked, curious at how Takeru didn't think it would be straightforward poison.

"I don't know. Just a hunch." Takeru replied shortly, "Regardless, none of you are at fault… Hoji will get better, I'm sure. I guess if there's no cure, all you can hope for is to pray."

"Prayer… ah… indeed." Mei nodded, finally a glimmer of hope was brought onto her eyes, "I'm not sure if it would work, but I could pray for Hoji's health. Perhaps my ancestors would grant me a miracle… Thank you for the suggestion, Takeru." With that, Mei sat near the bed where Hoji were lying. She held his hand with both of hers and started praying while holding his hand. Takeru just looked at her, and started thinking.

'Okay, let me see. So there's Abare Killer's mark on that bottle… and that presence I felt… it was like his… Wait… could it be…!'

It just then dawned to Takeru what was transcribed into the History of Super Sentai. Mikoto was at first well known for his apathy towards humanity and tendency to make dangerous games for his own amusement, even if it endangers humanity. 'Then maybe…!' At that point, Takeru silently left the sick bay and headed away…

* * *

"Why are you still here?" On the other hand, the tension was still bad for Jiraiya and Mele, "You tried to kill Hoji, you tried to kill me… I seem to have misjudged you. You're not serious in killing Long. You're more serious in killing us."

"What did you say? !" Mele yelled, "You doubt me? !"

"After this, I guess." Jiraiya said, "I just suppose that I can no longer…" Before he could finish that sentence, however, Chisato suddenly stepped in and slapped Jiraiya in the face. "_Ow!_"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Chisato yelled, "What were you thinking, Jiraiya? ! This is not like you! Mele told me you were the one to first to accept her as an ally, now you're driving her away? ! If anyone's misjudging here, it's me misjudging you!"

"Chisato…" Jiraiya was silent. He never saw Chisato to be this angry, the usually cheery schoolgirl was showing quite the anger in her eyes.

"I told you there's something more behind this! And you just took things in face value! You even picked a fight with her when we should've been fighting that monster!" Chisato continued to scold him, "Are you this easy to be engulfed with anger? ! Is that what a ninja does? !" This shocked Jiraiya and made him realize… up until this point, he was acting solely by anger, and as a ninja, he needed to be calm as the still water, "If you don't stop doing this, we will never be able to unlock Super Sentai Ball's true potential! That monster will become unstoppable and… and…!"

"_That's enough_." Jiraiya stopped as he saw Chisato starting to shake imagining the terrors the monster would bring, "You're right. I've been… too angry at this point, it blinded me. I should've tried to take things calmly… and instead I lashed out on Mele…"

"Mele… I have a question, please answer honestly." Chisato said, turning towards Mele, her eyes were as serious as she could. "Who gave you that poison?"

"Fine, I'll answer. I'd hate to say a lie, if you have to know." Mele said, sighing, "That Mikoto gave me the potion. He said it's something to enhance our strength instead of poison. I thought this is just some sort of earlier symptom and once he got over it, he'd feel better."

"What?" Jiraiya was shocked, "But this is obviously poison! Why would he…?"

"I'm not sure. But at this point, I'm starting to think that these 'power enhancement' thing he said are all pieces of bullcrap." Mele said, once again getting annoyed further at Mikoto, "How can I let that guy…!"

"Why didn't you try to tell us before?" Chisato asked, "I mean, about thinking it's a strength-enhancing thing?"

"I… look, it's my way, okay? I just don't want to do it on public!" Mele protested, "At any rate, I guess it's better if we check on him."

"Right!" The two nodded and they headed to the sick bay…

There, they found Mei sitting down and praying for Hoji's health. "Mei…" Jiraiya called, which brought Mei back from her prayer.

"Ah… guys!" Mei said as the three gathered to the two. "He's not getting any worse… but no better either…"

"It's all right, Mei." Chisato assured her, "He'll be fine. If you're saying a prayer for him, we…" At that point, however, suddenly Hoji started to shake his head, as if having a totally bad dream or seizures.

"Damn, it's gotten to this point…! Damn you, Nakadai Mikoto…!" Mele growled in anger, "This is no strength-enhancing substance, it's poison, plain and simple! How dare you…!"

"Huh? Mikoto?" Mei asked, while still worried.

"It's a long story, but we have to do something about Hoji…!" Jiraiya noted.

At that moment, Mei noticed. Hoji was having something similar to her… when Bandora poisoned her in order to put her to sleep and prevent her from destroying her Dora Monster. It was because of her willpower and desire to help her friends that she managed to wake up from her sleep and nightmare. And at least, Hoji's condition right now was not getting worse so it could be that he's in a recovery state. She held his hand tighter and said to him, "Hoji, hang in there…!"

* * *

_What dream was Hoji having? Inside a black dimension, he, as Deka Blue, fell to the ground, rolling there as if he was thoroughly beaten. "Guh…! Why…" Several shadows were approaching him as he got up. "Guys… it's me…! Don't you recognize me…!" Deka Blue said to the shadows… which turned out to be…_

_All the Dekarangers. Starting from Deka Red to Deka Green to Deka Yellow to Deka Pink to even Deka Break. All of them silently walked, their weapons ready, their voices completely silent. Eventually they ran forward and started beating Deka Blue around. _

"_Urgh! You really… don't remember me…? !" Deka Blue said as he tried to stand even only on his knees, "Tetsu… Sen… Umeko… Jasmine… Ban… my partners…? !" These shadows continued their savage beating towards Deka Blue, to the point that eventually he de-morphed as he was unable to get up._

'_No way… are they mad that I left them behind…? No… it can't be… it could be an illusion… But these pains felt so real…' Hoji thought, 'If it's a nightmare, it's one I can't get up from. What in the world is this…!'_

_Slowly as the Dekarangers approached him, he heard a voice. A voice of a woman to be exact. "Who…?" Hoji muttered._

"_My prayers wouldn't probably reach you, O Guardian Beasts and Daizyujin… but even so… please hear my wish… please let Hoji be okay… Don't let him die… please…!"_

'_That's… Mei?' Hoji recognized that voice. It seemed like a desperate prayer from Mei, praying for his safety. 'She's worried about me…'_

"_Hoji! Don't give in to this venom!" Another voice, this time male, was heard._

'_Jiraiya too…?' Hoji muttered. Perhaps it's not a prayer, but it's still a cheering. However one thing bugged him, 'Venom? So that's it…' Hoji finally understood. It was venom that he ate before. 'So the venom caused me to have a nightmare I can't wake up from. But how do I…'_

"_Hoji, we're waiting for you!" Another woman's voice was heard. Hoji also recognized it._

'_Chisato…'_

"_Hmph… you know, I expected more from you." Another woman's voice was heard, "Er… look, I'm sorry about accidentally giving in that poison, but… just get up, please! I won't forgive you if you die like this! Whatever this poison is, I know your body is strong enough to beat it!"_

'_Mele… so she's the one… but… she wants me to get up…?' Hoji was also puzzled hearing Mele's voice, and at that point, he looked at the Dekarangers. 'But how am I to get out of here? Beating my friends…?'_

"_Hoji, do not be fooled!" This time, another voice was heard, and it's clearly male and deep. Hoji recognized it all too well._

"_B… Boss? !" It was the voice belonging to Doggie Kruger, leader of the Dekarangers, as Hoji recognized, "Boss, where…? !"_

"_Listen, Hoji! If that was your friend, would they beat you savagely without reasonings?" Doggie's voice continued to echo, "It's your illusion, you have to defeat it yourself."_

"_Yeah." Another voice was heard, and Hoji knew this voice to belong to Tetsu, "Come on, sempai, show us what you got! You, falling against these illusions? _Nonsense!_"_

"_Now that this mystery is revealed, it's up to you to solve it!" Next it was Sen's voice that was heard, "Remember, there's no mystery in this world that can't be solved!"_

"_Come on, Hoji, get up!"A cheery girl's voice was heard. Hoji guessed that it would belong to Umeko, "You can do it! Beat that silly imitation of mine without mercy!"_

"_Hoji… a greater battle awaits you even after this. You have still much to accomplish." The next that was heard was actually from his sempai Gyoku Rou. However, the continued voice was instead a woman's voice, and Hoji recognized it as the voice of Jasmine, "You will gain more friends than just us, but we always will be friends… as for them trying to pretend as us, just give them a DON and see how it goes!"_

"_Don't worry about us, partner! We're doing fine, just go on with your battle!" And lastly, it's the voice of Ban that he heard as Hoji finally was getting up on his two feet thanks to the cheering of his friends, "And remember we're always waiting for your eventual return! Go get'em, partner!"_

"_Heh… don't call me partner." Hoji tried to at least go along with his usual dismissive attitude to Ban, he's gotten too used to it. However, one thing he knew was that he realized that he's got friends to support him… not just the Dekarangers, but also the new friends that helped him in this weird world. "If it's just my illusion, then I will destroy them myself! **Emergency! Dekaranger! Face On!**"_

_With that, he transformed into Deka Blue and immediately pulled his license, "SWAT Mode, On!" Activating his SWAT Mode, he immediately summoned the D-Revolver… but then so did the rest of the fake Dekarangers, except the fake Deka Break. They began barraging on Deka Blue, who ran towards them, and making sure that none of the bullet barrage hits. He then began knocking down the fake Dekarangers one by one, ending with the fake Deka Red, by kicking him on the stomach. _

_He kicked so hard that the fake Deka Red tossed away his own D-Revolver. "SP License Set!" Deka Blue put his SP License to his own D-Revolver before grabbing the fake's with his other hand. He then leapt back, to take some distance and took aim with both D-Revolvers. "Begone, my illusions! D-Revolver Max Power… Strike Out!" _

_Using both revolvers, Deka Blue shot down two fireballs that gathered into a huge fireball which not only destroyed the fake Dekarangers but also caused several explosions in his surrounding, signifying that the world of nightmare was being destroyed. Deka Blue just stayed, not even flinching, he knew what would happen next. And while that happened, he only let out a confident mutter… in broken English._

"Super Cool. Perfect._"_

* * *

"Ugh…!" Back to the real world, finally Hoji let out a grunt as he opened his eyes… and saw Mei, Jiraiya and Chisato all looking at him. "Y… you guys… how long has it been…?" Hoji muttered as he tried to get up into a sitting down position. Jiraiya and Chisato did back down, but it seemed that Mei didn't even budge. "Mei, get a distance…" But instead, she hugged Hoji and he realized that her eyes were a bit wet.

"Thank goodness, Hoji… thank goodness you're okay… I… I was so worried…" Mei said with full relief, "I prayed and prayed and it was finally answered…"

"Wet eyes… Mei, stop acting like a crybaby or something." Hoji reprimanded, however, it just seemed that Mei's eyes wouldn't dry out for awhile, "Jeez, I don't know what to do with you."

"You know, if Mei is crying, it's probably because she's too happy to see you okay." Chisato reminded, "Just because someone cries a lot doesn't equal being a crybaby! Mei… she's a very emotional girl. Treat her with care."

"Yeah, I guess. You know…" Hoji said, sighing, "It's like I have a little sister in this group." While Mei was probably different, Hoji couldn't help but felt like it was like that time he was with his little sister. If they weren't that estranged, they would've been like how he was with Mei… despite sometimes arguing, they do care for each other. Hoji instinctively patted Mei on the head as he said, more softly now, "You can stop doing that. I'm fine. _Thank you_."

"At any rate, Hoji… it's a good thing you survived the poison." Jiraiya noted, "Guess our cheerings did work. Welcome back."

"So you guys did cheer for me. I heard your voice… thanks." Hoji was grateful as he said that, until he eventually put Mei aside who has regained her composure, and instead looked at Mele, "You said you're the one who gave me the poison?"

"Yeah. But for your information, I did not have the intention to kill you." Mele said, as honestly as possible. She deduced that Hoji would at least be angry at her, but Hoji was silent. He instead nodded, as if telling her to continue, "That Mikoto… he tricked me into thinking that it's an empowering drink and I thought you could use more power if you defeated Long. He's the one at fault!"

"Mikoto… but what is he trying to gain with this?" Hoji asked, now wondering about Mikoto's plan. The room was silent afterwards, unable to give an answer… until…

"By the way, guys." Mei broke the silence with another question, "Anybody seen Takeru?"

And everyone was surprised that Takeru wasn't seem to be there…

* * *

Takeru was running on his own through the city. A lot of things were in his mind, but for Mikoto, he had a bad feeling about this man. But he must know the truth.

And as luck would have it, it didn't take long for Mikoto to eventually show up. "So, you're here… Red Mask, isn't it?"

"Nakadai Mikoto… you…!" Takeru said as slowly anger started to seep to him, "What are you planning?"

"Huh? Plan? Oh, you mean my Game." Mikoto said in a carefree, devil-may-care attitude, "Are you enjoying it?"

"Game? !" Takeru said in shock, "This is all just a game designed by you? ! Poisoning my ally…"

"Not just that. It seems that such act created a rift between the team." Mikoto revealed as well, "To see allies bickering each other to the point of destructivity… Heh heh, I would have to say it's pretty interesting to behold."

"Not funny, you bastard!" Angered that the team has been played by Mikoto for chumps, even to the point of endangering Hoji's life, Takeru immediately approached him and grabbed him on his collar, "Why are you doing this? !"

"Why? That's a good question." Mikoto said, trying to muster an unsympathetic voice, "Because it's more exciting that way." Hearing such reasoning, Takeru couldn't hold his anger anymore and punched Mikoto on the face, knocking him down, "Oh, now the leader got mad. What next, challenging me to a fight? You do realize that even if you're the red warrior, you may not stand a chance against me?"

"I'll make you eat those words, you fake!" Takeru said as he raised his arm, "I heard that you started out as a horrid man with no regards on humanity. Then you had a change of heart and helped the Abarangers save the world from Evolians… even sacrificing your life in process. But this…! You're returning to your old life of evil! This cannot be allowed… **Aura Mask! Red Mask!**" Turning into Red Mask, he stood and took a stance, "As your senior of Sentai warrior… this disappoints me, Nakadai Mikoto!"

"So, you want to see how you old fashioned Red try your might against me? Fine by me." Mikoto said as he got up and prepared himself as well, "**Bakuryuu Change.**" Thus he transformed and started cracking his knuckles, "Now bring it…"

Red Mask opened up by drawing his Masky Blade and attempted to slash Abare Killer, but he blocked well using his Wing Pentact, and both were caught in several sword slashes until eventually their blades meet and push each other. "If you're back in your old tricks, you no longer deserve to be called a Super Sentai!"

"Hoo… and who gave you the right to take that away?" Abare Killer replied cockily, "The power exists in me. Therefore… Good or Evil… I am still a Super Sentai." In a sudden, Abare Killer used his knee to hit Red Mask on the stomach, and instead of pushing his Wing Pentact, he started running and in a quick speed, he started hitting Red Mask many times without him being able to retaliate.

"Gah! Ugh…" Red Mask, finally thrown away after being hit many times, fell to the ground, rolling. Abare Killer lived up to his strength as described in the book. After all, he was able to overpower the Abarangers single-handedly at times. "Super Sentai powers… they're not meant to be used for evil or anarchy…!"

"I do what I want, thank you." Abare Killer once again said without care. Using his Wing Pentact, he drew a lot of golden arrows and then launched them at Red Mask, "See ya later…"

What Abare Killer didn't expect was that at that point, there was a surge of Aura Power brimming at Red Mask. Using just his Masky Blade, he started deflecting the arrows… one by one. To the point that not even one arrow hit him. "What? !" Abare Killer was shocked.

"I'll show you… not just Aura Power, but also the spirit of justice that belongs to the Super Sentai!" Red Mask beckoned as he was already on his two feet.

"Don't get cocky!" Abare Killer angrily retorted as he ran forward and once again started beating Red Mask while using his extreme speed. He managed to score several hits. But eventually… he found his fist successfully being grabbed by Red Mask. "What? !"

"Rather than fighting against the strong waves, following the flow would be a much better alternative. Now I got you!" Red Mask said as he raised his other hand, now gleaming with power. "God Hand!" He then used the powered punch right onto Abare Killer on the stomach, knocking him away.

Red Mask didn't relent and approached him on the ground. Grabbing Abare Killer's suit on below the neck, he started speaking. "I told you. You shouldn't use your brains and powers for such personal gain! A big responsibility comes along with the great power that you possess…"

"Heh… if it's no fun, why should I even bother?" Abare Killer said, still cocky. But that was met with a punch on the face by Red Mask.

"You're just running away!" Red Mask shouted, "That was a poor man's excuse from their troubles!"

"What do you know about me anyway? !" This time Abare Killer was the one shouting. Apparently he thought Red Mask wasn't aware of the horrid past he had, as he was too talented he became alienated with his friends.

"Not a lot. But what you did was nothing but running away! Aside from your troubles… but also another excitement!" Red Mask said once more, "There is excitement in helping people, protecting them and doing good. If you don't want to feel it and instead return to your old ways, be my guest. But remember that I and the rest will stop you!"

"Excitement… in helping and protecting people…" Abare Killer was stunned hearing it. Admittedly, he did feel a little good when he was invited to the Dino Curry by the Abarangers and especially when Ryouga's niece Mai acted genuinely all nice to him. And right now, he's given the chance to do something new. It seemed that everything went as he expected. "Hahahahaha…"

"What's so funny? !" Red Mask said.

"_Game Over._" Abare Killer said, "You win, Red Mask."

"Huh?"

"You're just like him after all… so stubborn." Abare Killer said, reminded of Ryouga, "Regardless, I'll tell you why you win this game. A leader has to be keen and perceptive. I thought you'd be swallowed under the petty bickering and accused that sexy woman. But no, you immediately figured that I'm the one planning this all."

"This was all just a test…? !" Red Mask said, "But that poison…!"

"Well that…" Abare Killer continued, "It does have poison-like effect, but if one is strong enough, they will resist it and come out alive. I made it sure myself by combining some materials with the poison I got from that Rinshi. It's more exciting and fruitful when you had a challenge rather than just being given a freebie… am I right?"

"Tch… Heh heh heh…" Red Mask said, "If you said you just want to gauge our strength, why don't you say so already?"

"Didn't I tell you? It's better if I take it like a challenge. And you pass… with flying colors." Abare Killer said as he eventually got up, "So now I know how worthy you are to be called my ally…" But as soon as he finished saying that, he got kicked from his side. As it turned out, it was Mele who did it, "Oh, hello again, Miss Sexy…" Abare Killer said as he get up.

"I told you to stop calling me that! You'll pay for tricking me!" Mele said as she tried to land several punches to him, but Red Mask stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder, "Takeru, what are you doing? !"

"Hold up, I can explain…" Red Mask said.

"Well if you can explain, do so quickly." A voice was heard and as Red Mask turned, he saw the rest of his allies, Deka Blue, Ptera Ranger, Ninja Black and Mega Yellow approaching him.

"Okay, you may be surprised, but…"

"What did you say, all just a test for us? !" Ninja Black said in disbelief once he heard Abare Killer's story, "That's… one way to put a test to us."

"Now, if you're in school, didn't you always get told ahead that there'll be a quiz coming?" Abare Killer said, "I realized that at least it would've been an exciting part in life."

"Well it does make sense. Even in college, sudden-quizzes are also abound." Mega Yellow said.

"And I do say that you guys are now together rather than abandoning her…" Abare Killer said, pointing to Mele, "You pass as well."

"Well… yeah. I haven't said it but…" Ninja Black scratched his head and then looked to Mele, "Sorry about getting too angry and accusing you, Mele."

"Yeah, whatever. Just don't do it again." Mele replied shortly. Despite the rocky events, the team managed to strengthen their bonds with this lesson as they try not to mistrust that easily anymore from this experience.

"So, you want to become our ally too?" Ptera Ranger asked to Abare Killer.

"If you're not worthy, I wouldn't." Abare Killer said, "But at this rate, you've proven yourself worthy. So, yep, I'll be your buddy… cute girl."

"Eh?" Ptera Ranger backed away at such compliment.

"Stop screwing around." Deka Blue said, covering Ptera Ranger, "You didn't change much from our first encounter…"

"Wait… if Mei's cute, Mele's sexy… what does that make me? !" Mega Yellow, now already acknowledging Abare Killer as an ally, approached him and protested on how he called the rest. Before that could be answered, however there were blasts aimed at them.

"Ooh there you are, Super Sentai!" It was Shikamonoha, who carried not just Rinshis, but also black and white soldiers who constantly jumped and carried a whisker-like spear each, and apparently they could be used as a gun too, "Look at these new friends I brought!"

"You again…" Red Mask said, but he didn't recognize the new soldiers, "What are those things again?"

"Barmia soldiers…!" Abare Killer recognized the new soldiers instead, they were the soldiers fighting under the Evolians, "If they're here, then Dezumozorlya…"

"Dezumozorlya…?" Red Mask asked.

"Bah, whatever. I'll just stop them all the same." Abare Killer said cockily.

"No, you won't do it alone." Red Mask suddenly said as the rest lined up near him, "Now that you're our ally, we won't let you do it alone."

"Heh… be sure to keep up." Abare Killer replied as they all prepared for battle.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"Excitement at its finest. Abare Killer!"

"Even though we…" Red Mask, now feeling like his team was complete, felt like doing it like the first time he did it. But then… he was cut off.

"Blah blah blah, we are **Super Sentai**!" Abare Killer finished the sentence as the explosion ensued. The rest of the Super Sentai just looked at him funny, "Look, are you just gonna go off with some cheesy line in the end? Next time, just make it short like our first time."

"Right…" Red Mask had to admit that Abare Killer made sense, "Anyway, let's go!"

"Oh goody, I like how you just ignore me like that!" Shikamonoha said after he didn't quite talk before, "Die for it! Go, Rinshi and Barmia soldiers!"

The combination of Rinshi and Barmia soldiers ran towards the Super Sentai and quickly the team retaliated and fought back.

However, Abare Killer didn't even bother to use his super speed, preferring his own brawns and skills to wipe out the enemy. This, however, gave Mele enough opening to claim some enemies on her own. "What's wrong, where's that super speed you showed before?"

"That? I'm not using it." Abare Killer answered, "I'm giving myself a challenge and handicap to make things more interesting." As he said that, he backhanded an approaching Barmia soldier who tried to assault him from behind.

Another Rinshi was about to do the same to Mele, and she was about to react the same way like Abare Killer… but that Rinshi was kicked first by Ninja Black, causing the backhand to hit him on the head, "Ow ow…!" Ninja Black backed down.

"Hey, watch where you're attacking." Mele reminded.

"Ugh, well guess I kinda deserve this for being a jerk…" Ninja Black muttered, before drawing his Kakuremaru and attacking further. Mele sighed, looking at how Ninja Black was fired up in redeeming his mistake.

'What a bother. I probably would forget that in a few days…'

In the meantime, as more soldiers were approaching Ptera Ranger, she wasn't even using her Ptera Arrow. Instead, she unleashed another… "Ranger Gun!" Drawing her gun, Ptera Ranger started shooting the approaching soldiers, all of them with perfect precision.

"You have a gun? !" Mega Yellow approached her after sweeping away some soldiers.

"Uh, because I forgot to put it out?" Ptera Ranger said nervously, 'Well, there's still the Ranger Slinger…'

"Regardless… all of them hit _Perfect_." Deka Blue commented, "You've improved."

"Ah, thanks, Hoji…" Ptera Ranger said but noticed a Barmia soldier approaching from his side… which was elbowed with no effort before she could finish saying, "Watch… out?"

And in the same time, Red Mask has been fighting the hordes of enemy by himself to reach the monster. 'Gotta be quick, or else he'll set up that barrier again!' At the moment, he unleashed a normal uppercut to a Barmia soldier. It was launched towards Shikamonoha.

"Rin Jyuu Platypus Fist! Dokushouheki!" Once again he set up the green barrier and the thrown soldier melted as he crossed through the venom barrier. "See that? ! Try to penetrate the barrier and that's how you'll end up!"

"Grr, you're nothing but a coward!" Mele shouted as eventually the team gathered together.

"We'll have to do something about it." Mega Yellow said, "He's probably going to turtle over there while we can do nothing."

"Turt…le?" Ptera Ranger was confused with such slang, "But he looks more like a platypus than a turtle…"

"No, not the animal!" Mega Yellow corrected, "I mean he's going to sit there while we can't harm him, while he's free to attack! It's a videogame term. God, I hate fighting the likes of them, in both games and monster-fighting."

"Regardless, that barrier has got to go!" Deka Blue said, "I guess it's time for D-Revolver…"

"_Wait, wait!_" Ninja Black said, "No need for that. It's a good thing to be prepared after all." At that point, he suddenly pulled something from his back and revealed… the Super Sentai Ball.

"What is that gonna do anyway? !" Mele said in disbelief, "Besides, last time we did it, we can't even…!"

"No, I think Jiraiya got a point. As of now, the team is complete, we can tap its full power." Red Mask said as he grabbed the ball, then he looked at Abare Killer, "Mikoto… pass it to us, with your strength."

"The Super Sentai Ball, huh? And the last time you tested it, it's not working well?" Abare Killer said, "And now you're trying to give it another test to this monster's barrier? Ha ha… how exciting. I'm in…"

"Guys, this is our gamble. If the description is true, then there's no force that can stop it." Red Mask commanded the team, "Take position!"

Thus the team spread out and took their positions. "Very well… here goes!" Abare Killer said as he gathered all his Dino Guts into his hand, onto the ball, and threw it to Mele, who kicked it to Mega Yellow, who used the Blade Arm to pass it to Ninja Black, who then hit it with Kakure-Ryuu Nagareboshi, hitting it to Ptera Ranger, ready with her Ptera Arrow. She shot the ball accurately which got into Red Mask and Deka Blue, now standing together.

"Masky Crash!"

"Blue Finish!"

The two smashed the ball with their weapons and it headed towards the barrier.

"Ha! Go ahead! All I'll see is just a melting…" Shikamonoha said cockily, but to his shock, the Super Sentai Ball penetrated through the barrier unharmed and went through Shikamonoha's chest. "BAAAAALLLL!" As he shouted, he fell to the ground and was destroyed.

"All right, success!" Red Mask said, knowing that the fight was over and that they finally was able to use the full power of Super Sentai Ball.

"Hah… all thanks to me, anyway." Abare Killer said… however, he sensed something as he looked behind, "Who? !"

As the team looked to where Abare Killer was looking, they found Long and Kiros already appearing there. "Shikamonoha bought us enough time…" Long greeted, "So how do you do?"

"Spare that load of crap." Red Mask retorted, "You see? Day after day, we get stronger so we can defeat you one day."

"That day won't come, because you'll die first. You better bet on that." Kiros said.

"If you're here just to bark… then I'll pull that tongue of yours!" Mele said as she leapt and prepared to attack. However, Long's absorbed Basilisk Fist manipulated gravity that he tossed Mele away with no efforts. "Damn you, Long!"

"Peace, we're not here for a fight. We just want an introduction to a friend of ours." Long said as he snapped his finger. And all of the sudden, a woman in white appeared, hugging both Long and Kiros.

"No… no way…" For once, Abare Killer didn't even sound really cocky. He was in fact worried, "Lijewel…! Why are you here…! You… you're…!" Because as far as he remembered, Lijewel was transformed into her infant age and was last seen being taken care of by Asuka and Mahoro of the Dino Earth. However, here she was, reverting back to the adult form… and what's worse, she felt so comfortable with Long and Kiros.

"So… anything I can do for you, my wonderful masters?" Lijewel's words shocked Abare Killer. While they were just playing along, Lijewel did love Mikoto back and he did appreciate her feelings to her. And now, it's like she forgot about him at all.

"Bastards, what the hell did you do to Lijewel? !" Abare Killer demanded, only for Lijewel to finally notice him.

"Huh? Who's this man?" The fact that she forgot about him felt like the arrows drawn by Wing Pentact all come stabbing to his heart.

"He's just an eyesore. I'm more awesome than him." Kiros said, boasting in front of Abare Killer as he struck on her cheek, "Maybe tonight will be a more passionate one, huh?"

"I ask a question… and you damn well better answer!" Abare Killer yelled as he drew arrows with his Wing Pentact, "What did you do to Lijewel? !"

"Well, in a word… make her our loyal servant." Long answered, "You see, Abare Killer? You will pay for refusing me. Sometimes, death could be too good. I guess you can just see me do away with her… Lijewel."

Lijewel suddenly stood in front of Long, which froze Abare Killer and left him unable to launch any arrow at all. "You're being mean to both Master Long and Master Kiros. I'll punish you!" She drew several cards, which had bombs in it. "Bombardment Kiss." Blowing a kiss to the cards, she launched the cards to not only Abare Killer, but also the Super Sentai.

"Gah!" Red Mask uttered as the rest tried to get up, "That's a potent move all right…"

"Lijewel… don't you remember me? It's me… Miko-sama…" Abare Killer tried to get Lijewel back to her senses, but it didn't work quite.

"What is this, 'Miko-sama' anyway? I serve only my masters Long and Kiros!" Lijewel exclaimed, "If you want to die so badly, then…" Lijewel was about to launch another attack, but at that point, Long put his hand on her shoulder.

"Well that's enough introduction. Let us regroup for the moment." Long said as he walked away, "Well, Super Sentai… I will be seeing you soon. And Abare Killer? Suffer as much as you can seeing we do away with your lover… Hahahaha…"

At that moment, Kiros snapped his finger and had Lijewel hugging him as they walked. "See that? Your you-know-what… now with us wholeheartedly!"

"B… bastard…!" Abare Killer angrily retorted, "So you do realize that this means war… Long… and you, freaky red lover-stealer…!"

* * *

After some time passed, the team, now de-morphed, reunited with Mikoto who was standing on a beach. "Mikoto…" Hoji muttered, "That was…"

"Heh… yeah. You heard me. That was the Evolians' Disciple of Light Lijewel." Mikoto answered, a sarcastic, yet sad tone accompanying his voice, "And one I could say closest to… love." At that point the whole team froze, not just Mele, but especially Takeru. With Lijewel at Long's hand, and brainwashed at that, it's making Mikoto's situation even worse than him with Iyal.

"So even as someone who did bad, you're capable of loving." Mei said, "I knew someone like you had the good in you."

"I'm not good. I only look out for myself. Good and evil… are worth nothing to me." Mikoto replied.

"Even so!" Mele walked up to him and forced him to look at her and the rest of the team, "At least you have a reason to oppose Long now. If Rio-sama was in that position, I would be extremely angry. What about you?"

"Well of course I'm angry!" Mikoto added, "That Long… he'll pay for this, big time."

"This battle will get even harder, that I know of." Chisato said, "Nakadai Mikoto, isn't it? Will you… join us?"

"What? Just so you can use your Super Sentai Ball with ease?" Mikoto gave a question that felt like very standoff-ish.

"No, of course not. I know you've got a lot at stake and Long slighted you." Jiraiya said, "I mean I know you did something too daring on us, but in the end, it's for our good as well."

"You don't even need to ask. I'm more inclined to join you anyway after this." Mikoto said, going towards Takeru, "I'll need more power to defeat Long and restore Lijewel, only after that I can rest easy once this trip is over. If you continue your goal to oppose Long, then you have my help… Takeru."

'So it's just now he called me by name rather than 'Red Mask'?' Takeru wondered a bit, but his mind quickly fixed itself to the right path as he nodded and shook hands with Mikoto, "Welcome aboard… Mikoto."

At long last, the rogue hero Nakadai Mikoto agreed to join the team. However, a new enemy has emerged, Evolians' Disciple of Light, Lijewel, Mikoto's one-time lover. What chaos will she bring to the team, now that the enemy may have an access to the monsters of Evolians? Hang in there, keep fighting and good luck! Super Sentai!

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

Author's note: And there we have it, the villains' roster are now completed with a brainwashed, aged Lijewel. Long's golden fog must've gotten something to it. But at least it gave Mikoto a reason to stick with the team after suckering the team in one dangerous game.

I guess after this there will be fillers or such, but before that, please send in your reviews and critics! Thank you!


	18. Pleasure's End

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note:** Hello once again. It seems that this chapter ends up a bit longer than usual. This touches in the Boukenger-ish episode about fairy tale turns real and I hope to tropers of TV Tropes reading this, you get a kick out of something... read on!

* * *

**CHAPTER 18: Pleasure's End  
**

* * *

It has only been a few days after Mikoto has officially put his lot on the team. Life has gone quite normal for the team as it seemed that Long has yet to take direct actions towards the team, giving them time for a little break.

One day, however, after they're done training, Takeru and Mele spotted Mikoto typing some buttons to the computer. "What are you doing?" Mele asked.

"Hacking your database." Mikoto nonchalantly answered, which elected a shock reaction from Takeru.

"What? ! Are you seriously considering…" Takeru lashed out near-angrily, until he reads what's on the monitor, "Er… vacant… sites?"

"You actually fell for my words? Gee, you can be a little too gullible." Mikoto commented, "I'm just looking for a small, empty place to hang out a bit."

"Unless you're training or something, I'm not even sure why you try to take such place." Mele said, thinking that Mikoto might be training about something.

"Oh, no no. I'm merely finding a place to restart my doctor career." Mikoto noted, "If I stay here like an idiot with no day job, I'll get insane due to boredom."

"Why not apply to a hospital?" Takeru asked.

"Nah, that's too boring for my tastes. I'm putting up some challenge on my own. Aside of some basic equipment and some money, that's all I'll bring." Mikoto noted as he smirked, "Going from zero to hero in terms of doctors, with limited supply and resources… that'll at least be more interesting than getting everything prepared for you."

"Wait, what's this paper?" The conversation was stopped when Mele suddenly picked up a paper left behind. They just noticed it here. "Seems like it's directed to Takeru."

"Lemme read that." Takeru said as he opened the paper, and then he realized who it was from, 'This is from Sakura? But why didn't she just say it to us…? Hmmm…'

"It might have gone from other people's notice, but from my experience, even fairy tales may be real. Just like my incident with the Glass Slippers of Cinderella, I've found another Precious… a gigantic-sized one at that. The Pleasure Island. A cursed island that turns misbehaving children into donkeys. The very existence of such Precious was a threat to the world, and if Satoru- I mean, Chief- was to find out, his response would've been 'destroy it'. And by luck I found it here… but alas, alone I do not have enough manpower to destroy it. I wish if I meet the Super Sentai as promised by Aka Red, I may have to ask them a favor… Misbehaving or not, being turned into donkeys would be a disproportionate penance. These children deserved a second chance."

"That's it? Sounds like a journal entry." Mele commented as Takeru was done reading, "But even then, the concept of this Pleasure Island sickens me. Rio-sama would've thought the same as this 'Satoru' she mentioned."

"Pleasure Island… kids sure heard that a lot from the story 'Pinocchio'." Mikoto mentioned as well, "It personally disgusts me, though. When you have fun, you better know you're going to enjoy it forever, rather than being turned into a donkey."

"Well the kids there didn't know any better." Takeru tried to 'defend' the children, "But… I will have to agree with Sakura. Somehow… I want to save those children and give them second chances."

"You stick your head for stupid kids like those?" Mikoto snarked once again, "Well, you're quite interesting for sticking your head for idiots."

"Say what you want, but it is a pleasure to stick our heads for those stupid people…" Takeru defended his philosophy nobly, "And guide them to the right path where they can decide for better."

* * *

In the meantime, Hoji was patrolling alone, with his motorcycle throughout the city. Eventually, however, he found Mei trying to comfort a crying mother. "What are you doing?" Hoji said as he got down.

"Ah! Hoji." Mei greeted, "This woman seemed to be in extreme sadness. She said she lost her son…"

"Lost her son…?" Hoji was shocked. It was just recently that he heard cases of missing children. Perhaps this woman was the same, "Madam, it's all right. I'm the police, please tell me your troubles."

"Uu… Taku… My Taku…" The woman sobbed.

"Your son's named… Taku?" Hoji guessed, and the woman nodded, "What happened between you and him the last time you saw him?"

"Taku wasn't an obedient boy… he's very rebellious…" The woman told the story about her and her son, "I used to scold him all the time because he kept neglecting his studies… then he ran off from home… I thought he'll eventually return for dinner, but he never returned…! What have I done, perhaps I was too controlling on him, never understanding him at all! It's all my fault… I don't care what he'll do when he gets back home… but please… please let me see my son again…!"

"It's all right, Madam. We'll find your son…" Mei tried to cheer the woman up, "Don't worry. We'll find him…" However, she stopped once Hoji gestured to her. After bowing in respect and reassuring her, she followed Hoji, whereas she saw that he's not exactly happy, "You don't look too well, Hoji. Don't tell me you…"

"It's not about happiness…" Hoji said sternly, "Do you even know how many similar cases I've ran lately? Near ten. This is no simple task."

"Oh my!" Mei said, surprised that the task was bigger than she expected, "But even then, that just means more parents in pain. I'll just have to try harder in searching for the missing children!"

"Well that's just like you after all. I'm on the same boat." As Hoji said that, he offered one extra helmet he got, "Want a ride?"

"Eh?" Mei exclaimed as she picked the helmet up, "We're supposed to wear this when we ride this kind of vehicle?" She asked since as far as she remembered, the Zyurangers never needed helmet when riding their motorcycles without transforming. Hoji's response was a nod.

"We'll search for the clues together." Hoji said as he got back to his motorcycle. Nodding, Mei also put on the helmet and got behind Hoji as he turned on the motorcycle and rode off.

* * *

As Sakura deduced, the Pleasure Island did exist. Contrary to many people's beliefs, it's not a stationary island. The island has the capability of floating and submerging. It was managed by the very coachman who manages the carriage carried by donkeys bringing forth misbehaving children… donkeys formerly misbehaving boys who fell into the curse of Pleasure Island. Unknown to the boys, the coachman's identity was in fact an Alienizer called Romino of the Lorzin Star, while he took the form of a portly old man, his true form was that of a smaller creature who adorned himself with several donkey skins, as well as having a head bigger than itself, formed in a twisted smile near permanently. He has eluded capture of even the SPD as it not only gained profit from Earth, but it has also visited various planets, turning many misbehaving children throughout the galaxy into donkeys and selling them off for his own profit.

And as of now, Romino himself was being visited by both Kiros and Lijewel. They were currently being taken to a pen where the donkeys were being held, and as he's in a client safe from public 'servants' he asked on the outside world, he was using his true form. "So, how do you like it, good sirs? Interested in buying some donkey?" Romino offered, hoping that Kiros would buy something.

"So, according to the rumors, the donkeys here used to be humans? Man, Abrellar sure know some nasty guys." Kiros stated, looking at the donkeys braying, "Though no, I'm not interested in buying any of those jackasses." In the meantime, Lijewel was just looking around, as if looking at the donkeys in awe, completely disregarding their fate.

"That's weird. If you're not here to buy, what is your purpose here?" Romino asked.

"Sightseeing… and some good offering for you." Kiros said as he turned towards Lijewel, "Hey, you done yet?"

"I think I get the gist of it, Kiros-sama!" Lijewel said cheerily as she drew a brush and with a blow of her kiss, she summoned several paint inks, "You see, thanks to these essences of Dezumozoryla being kept within me as well as some Evo Guts within, I know how Mikela and Voffa created their monsters!"

"Hoo… I guess you're a fast learner." Kiros said, smiling.

"And now, take a look!" As Lijewel said that, she put on her brush and started painting to the sky, creating images of a donkey, a grape and a thief's mask. Combining them, she created a Trinoid who looked like a donkey with grapes planted on his body and a thief's mask worn around its eyes, "And there it is! I call it… Trinoid #24, Budoroba!"

"Number 24?" Kiros asked, a little confused, "Whatever happened to the first 23?"

"Oh, they're all killed by those pesky Abarangers." Lijewel answered, "So, what are we offering again?"

"Right! The deal." Kiros stated, "You see… we'd like you to lure some 'good' people into the Pleasure Island."

"Good people? They don't turn into donkeys, you know." Romino answered, slightly disappointed.

"I'm not done yet. What I'm talking about are these people." As Kiros stated, he handed over several pictures… containing the Super Sentai, "These are the Super Sentai. They are very protective to children in general."

"This Budoroba will help you in your quest." Lijewel added, "I made it that he will be able to convert even good boys into bad boys, ideal to be victims of this Pleasure Island's curse."

"And so the Super Sentai will be lured here…" Kiros continued, "And then we'll be able to use those bad boys to bar the Super Sentai's path, freeing us to kill them! Consider it their last service before they turn into donkeys."

"Aah, that is very impressive indeed!" Romino stated, "Lately I heard that these… 'Super Sentai'… were inspiring the boys in general to not become bad boys, business had been a little dry. With you, I think I can resurrect my business and fortune!"

"Well, in that case!" As Lijewel said that, she moved towards Budoroba, "Budoroba, good luck." As she said that, she kissed Budoroba and eventually he started moving.

"Okay, leave it to me, Milady Lijewel!" Budoroba said enthusiastically.

"Okay, that kiss just before? Don't tell me…" Kiros was a bit confused in Lijewel's action to kiss the monster. Of course he wouldn't take it well if Lijewel was in fact hitting on anything that moved and not forgetting who her true 'love' is.

"I'm just inspiring…" Lijewel said, trying to sound innocent, "I only reserve my true kisses… for you. Or Long."

"Right…" Kiros sighed. In these times, he wished he'd make Lijewel all for himself, but Long had control over her.

"Worry not, my masters." Budoroba stated as he neared the exit door, "Once I get my grapes on those boys, they will become bad boys who think nothing but slacking off, and then I will cart them off to Mr. Romino here."

"And I will bring the boys here to this Pleasure Island." Romino said as he clasped his hand, "Once they arrive here, they will never come back…"

"**AS BOYS!**" In the same time, both Romino and Budoroba yelled together, showing their devilish faces. It was then they realize they have similar mindset.

"Boy, we do think alike! We'll make good friends!" Romino stated as he grabbed Budoroba on the hand and shaking them with both of his hand.

"Indeed, I hope our partnership is a long one!" Budoroba stated as he seemed to enjoy himself, before he went away, "Farewell, jobs, money and the Super Sentai's demise await!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a school's playground, there was a stage play going on, and apparently Jiraiya and Chisato were playing there, on behest on one of Chisato's child friends. And in the current scene, Chisato was sitting down on a chair, looking at what looked like a window from the stage screen, while dressed in a princess-like gown, all while speaking in good English.

"_My Savior… where could you be… please come quick before the day I am forced to marry that…_"

"_Worry not, my fair Princess!_"

All of the sudden, Jiraiya, in a prince-like suit, entered. Looking at him, Chisato was surprised as she got up, Jiraiya suddenly kneeling down and took her hand to respectfully kiss it, "_Behold your savior, Prince Henry. I have come to take you away from this accursed place._"

"_But my Prince… What of he? The Duke…_"

"_Princess Charlotte, Duke Ivan's crimes have been exposed and his pet taken care of. The King awaits your return. Come, I shall take you there._"

"_My Prince, there's no words that can express the joy that I am feeling… at this moment…_"

And as both embraced, it was narrated that the Prince and the Princess were wed and they lived happily ever after. And there was much applause from the children.

* * *

"Thank you very much, Chisato." As Chisato left, now back to her usual clothes, along with Jiraiya, the teacher bid them farewell, "The children are having fun with your all-English act. The children learned a lot and were happy in the same time."

"Ah, it's nothing big, really…" Chisato said, smiling, "My English still needs a little more work. Jiraiya is the one you should praise for his English."

"Not really. Chisato also did well at the acting." Jiraiya tried to also praise Chisato, "But I'm just glad this project is a success."

"Well, I'll be seeing you later. Give my regards for the children" As Chisato waved good bye and the teacher bowed her head in respect, she left with Jiraiya. And along the way, they chatted together.

"You must've been enjoying that quite a bit." Jiraiya said, seeing that at least during the play Chisato was having so much fun.

"Sort of. Aside of singing, I do like acting a bit. And it's not like this is the first time I got landed with a princess-like role." Chisato said, remembering some stage plays she did when she's little. Aside of some feminine roles, she could also did some tomboyish role when the situation demanded for an all-girl show, "But I like princess roles best. Man, sometimes I wish I can have a prince like that, saving me in distress."

"You really don't have one in your team, huh?" Jiraiya suddenly teased, "I bet you have…"

"Um, what? !" Chisato was flustered a bit when hearing it, but then she shut up. She was reminded of one of the closest male friends she got, 'Wonder what Kouichirou was up to…' "How 'bout you, Jiraiya? Enjoying your 'prince' role? Think you got a girl back in your timeline to be your actual 'princess'?"

"Well…" This did take Jiraiya back into that time his fellow Kakurangers tricked him to woo the sole girl of the team, Tsuruhime. With corny English phrase like '_I love my princess_' as well. The result… wasn't pretty, although that didn't break their friendship. "I do enjoy that…" But before Jiraiya could continue, there was a scream heard from their back, "_What? !_"

"That's coming from the school!" Chisato exclaimed as they both nodded, realizing what to do; heading back to the school.

* * *

When they reached the school, everything was in chaos. A lot of boys have been misbehaving greatly, bullying on the girls and a small portion of the boys, especially those that looked more nerdy. And even the teachers were helpless to quell them, they became fearless. "No way…" Chisato, watching from afar, muttered in shock, "And they were such good children before…"

"_Look!_" Jiraiya yelled, pointing to the other side and saw some children running off from Budoroba.

"C'mere, boys! I got grape-flavored candies for you!" Budoroba said as he pulled away a grape from his body, and was preparing to launch it… but then was interrupted when both Jiraiya and Chisato launched their flying kicks to him.

"Stop it right there!" Chisato yelled, "So you're the one making the boys like this? ! Isn't it… 'Jackass Nejire'? !" She tried guessing, as she knew there's no Youkai based on donkeys and thought this might've been Shibolena's monster.

"Jackass Nejire? ! What the hell are you talking about? ! I am Trinoid #24 Budoroba!" Budoroba introduced himself.

"Trino… id?" Jiraiya said in confusion, but they didn't have time to discuss further as the Trinoid summoned several Barmia soldiers.

"Play around with this one for a bit!" As Budoroba said that, the Barmia soldiers attacked the two, as he left to hunt down more children.

"Damn! At this rate the children…!" Chisato was worried as she continued to repel the soldiers' attack. 'Trinoid, I haven't heard of that. Maybe… it was those things fought by the Abaranger…? !' She tried deducing, judging from the types of monster that has attacked them. They've seen Underground Imperial Beasts fought by Maskmen, Alienizers fought by Dekarangers, Dora Monsters fought by Zyurangers, Youkai fought by Kakurangers, Nejire Beasts fought by Megarangers and Rinshi fought by Gekirangers, and this Trinoid would probably be the enemies fought by the Abarangers.

"Leave it to me!" As Jiraiya kicked an incoming black Barmia soldier, he put his hand on a gesture and suddenly sank to the ground. And as Budoroba approached children around him, suddenly Jiraiya rose from the ground, kicking him straight on the ass, knocking him away.

"OW!" Budoroba yelled as he eventually fell to the ground.

"You're not going with your plan any further!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he prepared to transform, "I'm driving you away from these children."

"You think you're this child protector, while you just punched people in the ass! Have you no shame? ! I'll just make you show your true color!" As Budoroba said, he pulled a grape from his mouth.

"**Super Henge! Doron-**" Jiraiya was about to transform, but at that time, Budoroba threw the grape, in which it entered Jiraiya's mouth, forcibly getting him consuming it. At that point, he dropped whatever he's doing.

"Now… come to papa and we're gonna have so much funs! Okay, boy! To the island!" Budoroba exclaimed as he and the naughty boys, along with Jiraiya followed him.

"What? !" Chisato, after driving away some Barmia soldiers, realized that Jiraiya was acting strange, "Jiraiya! What are you doing? ! Don't follow him! What's with you? !" As she continued to yell, more Barmia soldiers got in her way, "No! Come back to me! Jiraiya! JIRAIYA!" Chisato's yells fell to deaf ears as eventually she had to deal with the Barmia soldiers alone until they all vanished.

Worried, she ran to the direction where Budoroba was headed. But eventually she found nothing at the empty road. "Jiraiya…" Chisato lamented in worry, seeing her friends away. She was about to reach out the Digitizer, informing her friends about what happened. However at that moment, she found a peculiar sight. She decided to investigate a bit, using her camera to take a picture from afar.

It was a carriage. Full of boys, and the guise form of the portly old man of Romino was seen, and on the carriage were boys. The carriage was full. 'That guy looked familiar… where have I seen…' Chisato thought as she took some pictures. But then she was shocked to see that the carriage was carried with donkeys wearing human shoes. And what's more, the old man was shaking hand with Budoroba… before the latter jumped away. 'That's him? !'

Chisato eventually resolved to put an end to it by moving forward, but at that time, a loud sound of whip was heard and the donkeys started running. Chisato managed to slip away and was knocked aside. "Oww…" Chisato grunted as she got up and realized… there were trails of the donkey's steps. But one moment, she saw one of them vanishing. 'If I don't follow them quickly…' Chisato realized that she had no time to even inform her friend, or else they'll lose track of the carriage and Jiraiya. It was fully up to her to save him. 'Well, sometimes, it's the Princess saving the Prince… Okay, here I go!'

As Chisato ran following the carriage's trails, she started wondering on the sight she just saw. 'Fat old man… donkey carriage… boys… wait a sec, that sounds like…!' She remembered something in the past.

* * *

_In her childhood, during her kindergarten days, Chisato wasn't exactly a good girl. She had a slightly rough personality and likes playing around a lot rather than being helpful. She was often considered naughty and didn't have many friends._

_Until one day, her parents, not really having lost their patience on her, decided to take her to a movie. In particular, it was showing the famous film made by Disney, the movie Pinocchio. The movie was good… but it terrified little Chisato. In particular, the parts of Pleasure Island where naughty kids turned into donkeys and that the Coachman bringing the children to the Island and selling them off was terrifying her about the concept of what happened when one was too naughty, and especially the scary face the Coachman used to make. After a bit of counseling with her parents, it was at that time Chisato decided to better the image and become a helpful girl, growing into a good girl that she was at that time. Needless to say, the book was very influential to her._

* * *

'No way, it's just fiction after all…' Chisato thought, thinking of the similarities between the donkey carriage and the coachman that she just saw with the one she watched in the movie, 'There's no way Pleasure Island really exists. But even then, I can't just leave Jiraiya alone…'

* * *

It took her hours and she had to sometimes take small breaks, also bringing in waters, but she never gave up. Chisato continued to run following the trails. And eventually, she reached where the trail ends… a bridge leading to an island called 'Pleasure Island'. "N… no way…" Chisato said in disbelief. It was very similar to the one in the movie. An island of amusement park. 'Or maybe it's just one which had a similar name…'

She tried contacting her friends, but then her Digitizers did not even respond, 'Weird… it's like there's a jammer for communication… Which means I can't transform.' Chisato thought, 'Let's see… if this is really Pleasure Island, then it's only for boys and I have to act like school means nothing to me… Oh well, I've got my ways…' Just then she saw a stray hat nearby and a mask. She smiled, knowing that this would be her chance.

* * *

The drawbridge wasn't even lifted up yet, thus she walked there. Just then she was approached by none other than Romino himself. "Now what do we have here?" He beckoned. Chisato, with her hair covered with hat and her face covered with mask, backed down a little. "Looking for some… pleasure?" Romino offered once more. Chisato eventually nodded.

"Well, have fun then!" Romino then moved away, welcoming her. "Here's the Pleasure Island, where you can have fun as much as you like, there's no restrain! Have fun!"

As Chisato walked in, however, a gleam on his eyes was seen as he told a man in cloak, in whispering, "Tell Sir Kiros I got the one he wanted…"

* * *

As Chisato looked around, she saw many activities where boys play all day and there was no education at all. 'I'm already getting goosebumps being in here…' Chisato thought as she stayed silent and walked.

She then came across a bar, where she saw some smokes coming in. 'That… Jiraiya…? !' There she saw some boys eating with Jiraiya, with them eating junk foods in quite the excess and even played pool and smoked together with the children. 'They're all underaged! What are you doing with them, Jiraiya…!' Until she remembered something from the battle she had before, 'Wait… he ate a grape from that monster. Perhaps that grape… turns good boys into bad boys…? ! I have to stop them…' But she knew charging in alone would be foolish. She had to find out how to break the curse.

She looked around further and eventually came across a lone warehouse on the shores area. She got there. 'Wait, according to the story, this is where…' As Chisato's suspicions got higher and higher, she approached the warehouse, and suddenly sensed something that she hid near a rock. There, she peeked on a donkey with human clothes, running off from the house, braying all the way. 'N-no way…!' Chisato was utterly shocked. Everything she heard in the story was true. The Pleasure Island was real, and that donkey has got to be a transformed naughty boy.

Quickly, she grabbed the donkey and took it somewhere else, where she was hiding, "Quiet…! I'm not going to hurt you…" Chisato said as she held the donkey in place until it quieted down. "There, there…" She tapped the donkey's back lightly.

"Si… sis…" The donkey started speaking.

"It's all right…" Chisato said as she opened her mask and took off her hat, "No one will hurt you anymore."

"Help… help me… everyone…" The donkey spoke a lot, "Everyone… we're enslaved…"

'It's just as I feared… this is nothing more than a sham for child slavery…!' Chisato thought. She thought it was just story, but now that it turned out to be real, there's no way she's going to let this off the hook.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, mama…!" The donkey started to cry, "If I can return back home… and a human once more… I won't be a naughty kid anymore…!"

"It's all right, it's all right…" Knowing that it was a human boy turned to donkey, Chisato couldn't help but hug the creature on its neck, "What's your name?"

"Tim."

'Probably this boy is from the west, not Japan…' Chisato thought as she continued, "My name is Jougasaki Chisato. Help is on the way, Tim. Can you… run?" She asked as she looked afar, "It seems that the drawbridge hasn't been lifted for some reason. You must run from here where you can get help."

"I… I can run fast… but Sis… please save them… they… they shouldn't be like me…" The donkey begged. Chisato just nodded as she let the donkey go. She headed to another section, avoiding the warehouse.

* * *

"Hey, you over there." Chisato called the very first group of boys she came across when she returned to the main amusement park. "Whatever you do, you must follow me and leave this place at once! Or else you'll turn into a donkey!"

"Hey, you watch your mouth, woman!" One of the boys called out, shocking Chisato that they didn't even call her with 'Sis', "We do as we like, you can't scare us!"

"Yeah! Don't you dare take our paradise away from us! We're having a hell of a time here!" Another boy called out.

"Paradise? ! You've been deceived!" Chisato called once again, "This is an island that turns naughty boys into donkeys! You must believe and follow me out!"

"Phooey, it's just a myth! That won't happen!" Another boy said, "Come on, what's next, the roller coaster!"

"Agh, you leave me no choice!" As Chisato said that, she grabbed the child and started dragging him away, "I know you won't believe this, but once you see with your own eyes, I bet you will!"

"Help! Help! Someone uptight woman is trying to kidnap me from here!" The grabbed boy yelled and suddenly, Chisato found that she's been surrounded by boys.

"Heeey, wasn't it the rule of Pleasure Island that no girls are allowed?" A boy that just came said.

"And she looked like the studious type too! What is she, a spy? !" Another boy yelled, before he turned to the others, "Let's get her, boys!"

"No, wait, wait! You got it all wrong!" Chisato tried to defend herself but the boy quickly swarmed her and leaving her defenseless as she was being beaten down. And she didn't dare to beat any of the boys down, or else she'd be no better than her. But no matter how she tried to explain, all of them fell on deaf ears.

"Hold it right there." The attack was halted when suddenly a voice was heard. A man in cloak walked towards Chisato and the bullying boys, "Boys of Pleasure Island, leave this at once. This insubordination against the very laws of Pleasure Island will be taken care of by us, the managers of this island. Just go on and play, like usual."

"Hey! Wait!" Chisato called out as the boys obeyed the man in cloak and ran off, "You… you manage this place? ! Do you know what you're doing? !"

"Yes we do. And it's still none of your concern." The man in cloak said, "You've trespassed a forbidden area, Miss. Therefore, you warrant a punishment."

"Not going to happen!" Chisato vehemently denied, "I will get everyone here out. Nobody here needs to turn into donkeys to be sold for your petty fortune!"

No more words were said. Fists were thrown, body moved. The man in cloak began attacking Chisato as she put up quite a fight against one man in cloak. She was more than determined to defeat this cloak and get out along with the children. Once outside, she would expose this child-slavery activity to the public.

'This girl's strength is quite immense!' The man in cloak thought as he formed some gesture. Shortly after several more rounds of fighting, more similar men appeared, surrounding Chisato. But she didn't back down, and continued fighting.

But alas, her strength when she's unable to transform was severely limited. As more men in cloak appeared, her strength drained, her body gave in as she was unable to dodge a blow on the face, knocking her down. And in the same time, several men in cloak were quick enough to approach her and started binding her with ropes, with her hands behind her. "What are you doing with this…! Untie me… I'm no animal to be…" Chisato grunted.

"You will shut your blasphemous mouth before you spew more lies about our beloved island." One of the man in cloak said as eventually they brought a piece of thick cloth…

"Lies? What else there's to lie about? This place is nothing more than—Nnng mmh!" Chisato's words were cut off as the man in cloak finished it on his own pace.

"Nothing more than a paradise for kids to play with." The man in cloak stated, "Come, we'll discuss your punishment with our boss." With one of the man in cloak picking up Chisato on his shoulder, they shortly moved away.

'Oh great, I'm caught while Jiraiya is still on the loose over here, without realizing what's going to happen.' As Chisato was carried away, she started thinking, 'And on top of that, I'm gonna meet that man who gave me nightmares since I was a kid…'

* * *

"So! This is the woman that snuck to our island, huh?" As Chisato was brought to the warehouse that she snuck into, she was brought kneeling down in front of Romino. "You're a really daring woman. Ooh, how I wonder what I will do to you…" The Alienizer then closed his face towards her.

"Nng…" Chisato tried to back her face away, very disgusted at the man. However, she was suddenly shocked when the old man began speaking something that she never thought he'd say.

"You think you can make a difference here… Sentai?"

'How did he know I'm…!'

"Hah! Your arrival was expected. I thought I'd use that Trinoid to lure the bunch of you here, but not only he turned one of you to a potential donkey…" Romino stated, "But you came as well, and now in my custody! While the last part was unexpected, I have known that you'd come. And what do you know, you were spreading lies to our fair island. That can't be good… no?"

Another time someone stated that Pleasure Island was innocent. Chisato was riled up. "Hnngg, hmmm, mmff!" She started flailing around her bound body, 'The only one who's lying here is you! This is nothing more than an accursed place that generates profit to you!'

"Well a punishment is in order. Perhaps I could…" Romino was about to continue, but suddenly the door opened, revealing Kiros, Lijewel and Budoroba.

"Not so fast, Romino." Kiros interrupted, "I had hoped that you will not kill such beauty or turn her into a donkey."

"Damn straight! My grape just affects boys." Budoroba added, "If you feed her with it, there won't be any difference."

"Ah, yes. The curse won't affect those who are not misbehaving and she seemed not like one misbehaving child at all. But she's spreading lies to the local here." Romino stated as Kiros just approached Chisato.

'Kiros! So you're involved in this…'

"Oh hey there, hot babe." Kiros stated, grinning in a twisted sense as he looked at her, "Guess we're lucky you're here a bit trussed up like this. That Mei was a cute one, aye… but you're a different class of beauty that I can appreciate. You will like my company, I assure you."

Chisato just moved her head away, not even wanting to see Kiros, 'I don't need your praise.'

"So, how do you plan to punish her?" Lijewel brought up until something crossed her mind, "Hey, since this is some amusement park, does it have… circus?"

"Circus? Sure, we do have one." Romino stated, "We got a lot of donkey-based attractions there." This served nothing more but to shock Chisato. So boys turned to donkeys also get kept here to become circus animals.

"No, no. Not donkeys." As Lijewel said that, she looked at Chisato, "I want her as our attraction. Any attraction, okay?"

"Hey, that sounds great! Gimme the front seat for that show." Kiros added, "And this had better be a sexy attraction!"

"Oh, yes indeed. Those boys could appreciate a very forward approach in entertainment." As Romino added, he looked at the men in cloak, "Men, prepare her for tonight's attraction."

As Chisato was picked up and taken away, she could only wonder what was meant by that. 'Sexy? Forward approach? Oh dear me, what are they're going to show from me from that… Ugh… I hope it's not something embarrassing… but knowing them, I may as well just prepare the inevitable…'

* * *

As the day was getting dark, a circus attraction was held in a really big tent on a mountainous spot. Nearly every naughty boy there attended, including Jiraiya. A lot of animal-based attractions were showcased. "Wow! These are awesome! Right, bro?" One boy sitting next to Jiraiya said as the rest was in awe.

"_Yeah._" Jiraiya nodded as he kept looking at the attraction involving donkeys. However, at one moment he seemed to hear that the donkey seemed to cry like a human not bray like a donkey, which caused it to get whipped. It struck something in his mind… like something went wrong. Especially considering that said donkey weren't barefoot, but wearing human shoes. 'Something feels wrong here…' However, his thoughts were suddenly overridden and he ended up watching it for entertainment.

In a sudden, however, from the main curtain, Romino entered. "Fair children of Pleasure Island! Today, we're getting an attraction not involving animals, but involving real person! What we'll be seeing is an enactment of something in our past. Like those movies where we see damsel in distress being put in peril. Real person, real distress! What says you?"

And the crowd cheered. There were two tunnels near the curtain, in which on Romino's snap of finger, a railroad appeared. As he stepped back, a train suddenly rushed into the room. "Feels like a real train, no?" Romino asked in which the crowd said 'YES!' judging from the rumbling and realness of the train. "Very well! Let us introduce our actress!"

The curtain opened, and it showed Chisato, still tied up and gagged, but instead wore not her usual clothes but some sort of metal bikini. "Whoa!" The crowd was in awe at how revealing they put Chisato's costume, which caused her face to turn red, as she continued to struggle against the men in cloak carrying her as they tied her to the railroad while sitting down.

"Hmmmmgh! Mmmmfff! Mmmrrhh!" She continued to yell, not of curses, but trying to warn the children of their eventual fates. 'This is probably why they gagged me all the time! Just so I can't… Huh? !' She looked at some of the front seat… and saw Jiraiya, 'S… stop looking at me like that, Jiraiya! At least you get a hold of yourself!'

"Hey! That costume looks familiar!" Jiraiya commented, "I think it was from that 1983 movie called Star—" At that moment something struck Jiraiya. 'Wait a minute… why is Chisato…!' Memories started to flow right back to Jiraiya, memories between him and Chisato, from staging her kidnapping to defeat a Nejire monster, to watching his horror movie together; with her tugging on his arm in fear, to her slapping him some sense when he's gone a little too suspicious, to eventually his recent stage play with her for the good children. Then he started remembering all the wild activities he spent in this island. 'What am I doing here…? !' The strong sense of justice within him were starting to re-emerge, overwhelming the effects of Budoroba's grape.

And after several minutes, the ground started to rumble again. Chisato saw a light through the tunnel, which means, the train was coming. She started to panic as if it continued, she'd really get trampled. She continued to flail her body around, hoping to snap her restraints, but thus far, it wasn't being successful. Until…

_SHUSHUSHU…_

There were shurikens thrown, accurately to the one binding her to the railroad. However, the train was getting close. In a blink, fortunately, Chisato felt like she was being carried away safely as she managed to avoid the train squashing her. She then realized it was Jiraiya who did all that. 'Jiraiya…!'

"_Your savior, at your service._" Jiraiya said as he put her down.

'Thank goodness you came back to your senses, Jiraiya!' Chisato thought, before she realized something, in which she said a series of muffled sentence. 'Can you just remove this gag? I got an important message.'

"What?" Jiraiya was confused in what Chisato meant, as he was a bit too distracted with her costume, which in turn infuriated her.

'I said ungag me already! This is a really important message I have to tell through!'

All of the sudden, they heard cheering. It seemed that in the hearts of even the naughty boys, the best fun was when the dashing prince came to save the day and inadvertently Jiraiya provided that. However, such happy moment was interrupted when in between the happy cheering, there were several donkey-brays. All of the sudden, all the boys that were cheering covered their mouth as they stopped cheering. On looking each other, they were about to laugh but then they realized the harsh truth… their ears were replaced with donkey ears and they seemed to be sitting on their donkey tails.

"NNNNNN!" Chisato screamed in horror, now witnessing with her own eyes the very transformation that terrified her. This time not in TV, but in real life.

"Oh, there it is!" Romino laughed as he witnessed the boys were thrown into chaos and slowly, their bodird were turned from humans to donkeys. As Romino laughed, he started showing his true form, that of a little man with devilish face and big head, "After all, give a bad boy enough rope, and he'll soon make a jackass of himself!"

"_Hey, you!_" At this point, Jiraiya was angered that he dropped Chisato and confronted Romino by walking towards him, "You… you planned this…!"

"Ooh, yes indeed! All bad boys come here because of their misbehavior. They had their fun here, and now… they're going to pay for their idleness!" Romino laughed, "And I will reap on their misfortune!"

"You are a monster!" Jiraiya said as he drew his ninja-to and tried striking Romino. However, at that moment, several men in cloak along with Budoroba appeared as Jiraiya once again fought them.

However, at that moment, he realized some of the men in cloak were holding Chisato away. "Oh, no you don't!" Jiraiya said as he ran towards her, hitting any men in cloak that came across.

_KAPOW!_

_BAM!_

_ZBAAAK!_

But unfortunately before he could even reach Chisato, there were explosions occurring near him. "Ooh, phooey! And I was looking forward with the scene she was splattered!" It turned out that Lijewel was the one who did it as she floated near Jiraiya.

"Lijewel? ! So this was all Long's…" As Jiraiya muttered, he was kicked from behind by Kiros, knocking him away.

"Yeah, whatever. The plan was formerly to have these kids be the shield for you Sentai so we can kill you for free." Kiros said as Jiraiya attacked him, but he was also blocking them off. "But I guess the deaths of you two with this situation would be a start!"

When Jiraiya was attacking, he then realized something wrong and dodged away, it turned out Lijewel sent out a blast ahead of him. "You fell for it! Crescent Screw!" This chance was used by Kiros to unleash his Crescent Screw, which eventually knocked Jiraiya straight on the head to a circus pillar, knocking him unconscious.

'Jiraiya…!' Chisato called his name, even if she was gagged, out of worry.

"Romino, we'll take care of things here." Kiros stated, "You should round up the donkeys before they flee and inform the rest! Unless you want to get exposed!"

"O-oh! Right! Come on, you lots!" Romino said as he hurried with the men in cloak. As Budoroba dragged the unconscious body of Jiraiya, Kiros only approached Chisato and looked at her.

"Now it's your turn to get a front seat…"

* * *

Meanwhile, in time before the attraction in Pleasure Island was held, the donkey that was Tim was able to sneak out of the Pleasure Island, made possible when many men in cloaks were summoned in order to restrain Chisato. It ran and ran… until it collapsed… and luckily, it encountered a motorcycle, in particular the one ridden by Hoji and Mei.

"Hoji, that…!" Mei exclaimed as she got down, "It's a donkey!"

"What is it doing here?" Hoji replied, "And it's wearing human shoes… what the hell?"

"H… help…" Tim spoke, which shocked the two.

"A talking donkey? ! _U-unbelievable…_" Hoji muttered.

"Did you ask for help?" Mei, however, didn't care for details and instead asked as she caressed the donkey's skin, "What can we do for you?"

"Pleasure Island… friends… turned into donkeys… Sister… Chisato… helped… me…" The donkey spoke, "Please… save them…"

"Chisato? ! You know Chisato? !" Mei was shocked, "But where is the Pleasure Island? !"

"Are you sure you're not joking? Pleasure Island is nothing but…" Hoji was about to say that it's only fiction. However, he momentarily stopped. Missing children, talking donkey, Pleasure Island… he's been seeing the first two. It's becoming too real rather than fiction. "_Oh My God._ That place in fiction… actually… real…?"

The donkey coughed up a bit, which worried Mei, "Please hold on, I'll be treating you!"

"I'm sorry, sis… I can't hold on… please save them…" Tim spoke further as he was drawing his final breaths, "Mama… mamaaa…" With that, the donkey laid down, dead.

"No!" Mei, witnessing the death so soon, was heartbroken as she hugged the donkey's dead body. But in its place, there was a rage building up in her, "Who is responsible for this…! Robbing this boy's humanity into this form and brutalizing him… They'll pay for this!"

"I think we may have clues if we return to Bonds. Let's go." Hoji suggested, and Mei just nodded, following him.

* * *

Back in Bonds, Takeru witnessed some sort of faint signal amongst the screen where it showed the map of Japan. "What is that signal? It's a bit familiar…"

"It could be telling something." Mikoto added, "If you're familiar with that signal, can you know what kind of transmitter is that?"

"It's like… it's like Chisato's communicator." Takeru said, "The message is all garbled though…"

At that moment, suddenly the door opened and Hoji and Mei entered. "Oh, you came back." Mele greeted, and in particular she saw Mei's eyes still drenched in tears, "Why are you crying again? Or don't tell me you're this kind of crybaby?"

"Takeru! We have to find this Pleasure Island!" Mei ignored Mele and approached Takeru, "There were many boys turned into donkeys there! We have to save them!"

In the meantime, Hoji approached Mikoto and said, "Excuse me. But I have to use the database for a bit." Mikoto, knowing how serious Hoji was, just got up and allowed him to use the database as he typed some words.

"Pleasure Island…! So it was just as Sakura said…!" Takeru exclaimed, which startled Mei a bit, "Er… well she left us this letter hinting its presence. It's actually a high-level Precious containing a curse. She wanted it destroyed…"

"Then the curse was the one turning children into donkeys." Mele concluded, "All right, fine. I believe you now. So… can we rid that disgusting heap of land now?"

"Chisato is over there!" Mei stated, "Maybe Jiraiya is as well, if he hadn't come back!"

"Well he hasn't come back… wait…" Takeru then realized the signal's meaning, "That means what Chisato was sending off was the location of the Pleasure Island!"

"Found it…!" Hoji finally exclaimed as he revealed a data, "I never thought that not only the story is real, but that coachman was actually an Alienizer!"

"What did you find about this Alienizer?" Mikoto asked, "And why haven't you space police ever touched this case?"

"Romino of the Lorzin Star" Hoji explained as he showed the picture of Romino in the screen, "A notorious criminal involved in transforming children into donkeys and selling them to Black Markets. He's really elusive that usually it is the SPD Fire Squad or Tokkyou that was handled with his case, not us Earth-based SPD, but he usually avoids capture. I never thought this is actually the same coachman as the story of Pinocchio."

"As Sakura stated, sometimes myth and fairy tales are real." Takeru noted, remembering her letter, "She said she's dealt with Cinderella's glass slippers. Then probably she would just surmise that the adventure of Pinocchio was real. And if the coachman is actually an Alienizer… Must've been a real old one."

"According to his data…" Hoji explained, "It's said that he has been doing this on many other planets. He's been approved for Deletion for a long time. This time…" As Hoji stated, his eyes started to burn with righteous fury. As he clenched his fist and got it up, he said with determination, "He will not escape. He will pay for his crimes."

"Heh… well, meeting a fairy tale thing comes to life." Mikoto sneered as he crossed his hand forwards, "This looks exciting. I'm in."

"Very well. We'll be using the signature sent out by Chisato to locate the Pleasure Island, and we'll go there!" Takeru stated to the others, "Let's go, this child slavery ends here!"

"Hold on a sec." Hoji said as he suddenly put out his SP License, "If what you said about Chisato's message being garbled is true, then it's most likely that there's some sort of jammer there. My transformation requires sending data, thus I'd be affected. Therefore… **Emergency! Dekaranger!**" With that, he immediately transformed into Deka Blue, "OK, _no problem._ I'm good to go now."

"OK, let's go guys." Takeru nodded and eventually the team moved out. Thankfully, only Deka Blue would be using data transmission for transforming, the rest only depended on their inner strength, thus only he transformed.

* * *

With the coordinates given from the database, Takeru and the rest managed to allocate the Pleasure Island. "Man, it's just like in the story…" Takeru said, looking at how the island looked from the bridge "An island with nothing but things you find in amusement park."

"Even so, if you know the story, you know that this is a cursed island." Mikoto reminded, "So, leader. Got a plan?"

"I'll try to find Jiraiya and Chisato." Takeru offered, "You guys try to convince the children to get out."

"Yeah, easier said than done. You think they're gonna believe us that easily?" Mele stated the one obstacle they'll be facing.

"We'll be fine. I know they may be kids, but surely they must've known of Super Sentai." Mei tried reassuring, "If we do not look convincing enough, we can have Hoji convince them with his current form… Hoji?" But while Mei was speaking, Deka Blue already took some sniping position. He shot his D-Rifle, twice, and seemingly hit two people.

"All course clear." Deka Blue said as he got up, "Let's go with that plan."

"OK! We enter, then we split up!" Takeru declared and eventually, the five ran forward…

* * *

Once they arrive there, Takeru tried his best to infiltrate the island amongst the bunch of children playing. He saw one man in cloak moving and he quickly ambushed it, knocking it away. When he opened it, he's surprised to see that it was in fact an Anaroid. 'So Abrellar was a bit involved in here… ah, no matter!' As Takeru thought, he put on the cloak to himself and ventured further.

When he got near the entrance to the mountainous road, he saw several donkeys running off. 'Is this leading to where they keep the donkeys? Let me see…' Takeru then ran off to the mountainous road, but instead, it took him into the circus tent. 'A circus…?'

However, he suddenly saw two figures moving out of the tent. 'That's Kiros…! And Lijewel too…? !' Takeru managed to hide behind a nearby rock, avoiding their attention. However, he did overhear some things they said.

"So are we done here?"

"Yep, we got what we wanted here. Hopefully, if what she said is true, she can make full use of it."

"So, Kiros-sama, once we get back, what will we have?"

"Something passionate."

Once Kiros and Lijewel was out of sight, however, Takeru emerged and rather than pursuing them, he decided to investigate the circus tent first. 'I'm just asking trouble if I just come out and say 'What is it that you're planning? !'. They'd fight be and I'd be wasting my time.'

Takeru continued to run and as he approached the tent, he slowly started hearing muffled yells. It sounded like a girl's… 'Hm, it sounds familiar…' Suddenly, he felt the ground slightly rumbling, but he knew it's not an earthquake. Determined, he quickly entered the circus tent… And over there, he saw Chisato, now sitting down on a front seat to his left, tied to it. "Chisato!"

"Nnng! Nnnnnhh!" To his surprise, Chisato instead shook her head and tried pushing her body forward, as in telling Takeru to look at the front. He saw Jiraiya lying there, his body wrapped in steel wrappings on the railroad, unconscious all the time.

"That means the rumbling sound…! Damn!" Takeru knew he had no time to waste. Running off, he raised his fist and eventually yelled "**Aura Mask! Red Mask!**" As Takeru guessed, his transformation which depended on his Aura Power, was not affected with the jammer, thus he managed to transform, and landed near Jiraiya.

As he guessed, there was a light and a train heading there. 'There doesn't seem to be any signs of lives over there…' Red Mask thought as he prepared his hand for the God Hand technique. "HI-YAH!" As the train neared, he launched his fist with all his might "AAAAHHH!" And after several minutes of continuing to push with that one fist, it managed to crush the train, stopping it dead on track.

"Ow…" As the dust cleared and everything was safe, Red Mask was wiggling that very fist in a bit of pain. 'The God Hand is still powerful, but punching a train like that still hurts like hell!' He drew the Masky Blade with his other hand and cut down the wrappings binding Jiraiya. Rather than waking him up on spot, he carried him next to Chisato, where he started untying her, "Chisato, you okay? And… uh… nice getup?"

"Oh, how can you say that? !" Chisato was pissed on that last comment, "That filthy Alienizer had me dressed up like this! Damn, if I meet him I'm going to beat him to pulp!" At that point, she didn't care if that Romino looked like the figure that terrified her. Instead, this whole event inspired her to finally beat the living crap out of him not only to conquer her fear, but also as a revenge for having her dressed up in a skimpy outfit.

"Oh, we will get him, don't worry." Red Mask assured her, and they looked at the unconscious Jiraiya, "He has to get up quick…"

"Ah… Jiraiya!" Chisato then got near him and raised his head, "Wake up! It's all right, now, Jiraiya! It's… all right…"

"Ugh…" Eventually Jiraiya slowly opened his eyes, looking at Chisato. The last thing he remembered was him trying to save her, so he was a bit unsure of how it transpired eventually, "Chisato… did I…"

"Ah! Jiraiya…!" In a sudden, worried as hell, Chisato quickly hugged him, "Yes you did, Jiraiya… you saved me… if you didn't get ahold of yourself back then, I would've been splattered down already. Thank you…"

"But still I got beaten pretty badly…" Jiraiya sighed, until he realized something, "Oh! Right! Kiros and Lijewel! Where are…"

"Huh? I think I saw them outside." Red Mask answered, which kinda shocked Jiraiya.

"Takeru…! Since when…"

"Well we kinda learn this position when we heard about it from Sakura's letter, and Mei confirming the situation. When I got here, you were nearly run over by a train while unconscious." Red Mask gave the gist of the situation.

"Yeah, and probably they still kept me gagged just so I can't continue calling out your name." Chisato sighed.

"Grr, damn them…! I'll make them pay for this!" Jiraiya grunted in anger, feeling humiliated.

"Regardless, it seems that there's a jammer here so Chisato can't transform." Red Mask stated, "Jiraiya, you take Chisato out of here until she can transform again, and after that, join us once more. Since your transformation doesn't seem to depend on electric messages, I think you can do it."

"Got it, let me try." Jiraiya said as he picked up his Doron Changer, "**Super Henge! Doron Changer!**" As Red Mask guessed, the transformation was successful.

"OK, good. Now…" Red Mask was about to continue, but at that point someone entered the circus tent… Budoroba.

"Ooh, how dare you ruin his execution!" Budoroba exclaimed, "No matter. As long as Trinoid #24 Budoroba is here, you won't be leaving this place alive!"

"Tri… noid?" Red Mask asked in confusion.

"That sounds like the type of monsters fought by the Abarangers." Chisato said, "Or, that's what I'd guess."

"No matter… I'll deal with him." Red Mask said as he took his fighting stance, "Jiraiya, take Chisato out of here!"

"_OK!_" Ninja Black nodded as he eventually ducked, "Here, get on this."

"Eh? I have to ride your back?" Chisato asked.

"Rather than you hurt your barefoot for running without footwear!" Ninja Black's explanation was enough to make her understand as she got into his back.

"Okay…" Chisato then looked around. Looking at her hand, she saw her Digitizer still on her wrists, they probably thought with her bound and gagged, she couldn't even transform. She's glad that she didn't need to take a detour. "Let's go."

"Good luck!" As the two made their escape, Red Mask bid them farewell as eventually he ran forward to launch a punch to Budoroba and the two quickly was engaged in battle…

* * *

In the meantime, just shortly after separating from Takeru; Mei, Mele and Mikoto eventually arrived to a bunch of boys still playing wildly. They kept Deka Blue hidden for a trump card. "Everyone please listen!" Mei exclaimed, "You must flee this place before it's too late!"

"What? ! More of that nonsense again? !" A boy, who had been reprimanded by Chisato, wasn't even buying it anymore, "What do you adults wanted? ! How did you even get here! We just want to play!"

"Are you an idiot? !" Mele scolded, "You really want to turn into donkeys, do you? If you really want to throw away that humanity of yours, fine, be my guest! Don't come crying to me when you really are a donkey!"

"You heard the warning. The legend of Pleasure Island in that Pinocchio story is actually real as I just heard." Mikoto added, still with his arms fold, "So, who wants to be human, and who wants to be donkeys? I don't have a cure for jackasses, if you must know."

"Agh! Enough of that!" The boys were getting wilder as everyone started to throw objects to the three, starting from fruits to stone, "Leave us alone from our paradise!"

"Ah!" Mei exclaimed as she covered her head, "Please, listen to us! It may be hard to believe, but it's true!"

"Ugh… urge to smash stupid kids' head… rising…!" Mele thought as she was also covering her head. She's starting to lose patience.

"You know, I was thinking the same." Mikoto added, still as nonchalant as usual.

"Everyone hold it!" A voice was heard. Deka Blue just couldn't wait anymore, it was nigh time he appeared on the scene. To his surprise, the children was in awe.

"Oh my God! It's one of those Super Sentai!" One of the boys said in awe.

"I'm a huge fan!" Another boy exclaimed as eventually Deka Blue found himself surrounded, "Please sign your autograph here! I'd be excited!"

"Only on one condition." Deka Blue said, "Leave this island and never come back. Those people are telling the truth, this is a cursed island! Behave yourself!"

"Oh, you're lying!" The boy said, "Those three are the bad guys trying to take away our happiness! Please get them!"

"No!" Deka Blue insisted, "They are speaking the truth! Would a member of Super Sentai lie? !" Just as he was done speaking, suddenly a lone donkey was seen running. In the meantime, a man in cloak was trying to chase the donkey… only for both Mei and Mele to kick him on the head while Mikoto punched him on the stomach, knocking it down. "Look at that donkey! No donkey would wear human shoes like that!"

"This 'security guard' you knew of was in cahoots with the owner of this island!" Mei added, "He spoke the truth that if you stay here and continue to misbehave, then you will be cursed into a donkey… Please…!" However, suddenly as Mei spoke, one by one, the children started to grow donkey ears. "Ah… no!"

"Well things got a little hastened…" Mikoto said as slowly the children started a slow transformation into donkeys, throwing them into mass panic.

"Everyone, get out of this island at once!" Deka Blue said as he pointed to the exit. However, at that moment, they find themselves surrounded with Men in Cloak, Barmia soldiers, as well as Romino.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. SPD." Romino exclaimed, "You see, I'm not going to let my gold mine vanish just like that."

"Gold mine? !" Mei yelled, "How dare you treat lives with so little concern!"

"Oh, please, Miss… I'm just doing this universe a favor." Romino rebuked, "Parents do not like misbehaving, naughty children. I am doing them a service by educating them into those who contribute to the society. I mean, what are they gonna do as a humanoid child? Stay idle and do nothing, becoming trashes of the universe? At least as donkeys, they'd be useful for the society… Be it hard labor work in some hard area, or some skin goods."

"Is that your excuse?" Mele said coldly, "Get to the point, you actually don't care about all those reasons! All you care about was just making money. And that, in a nutshell, is pathetic!"

"Exactly that!" Deka Blue added, "You're no contributing element to the universe, you're nothing more than a devilish child slaver!"

"Oh, please. I am telling the truth!" Romino stated, "The law will never find me guilty! I'm just a force-of-nature style disciplinary committee!"

"You really wanna know how the law feels about you? We have confirmed your status… but fine, I'll let it out to you." Deka Blue said as he moved forward with his SP License at hand, "Romino of Lorzin Star! For conducting child slavery in over ten planets and polymorphing said children hideously for your own profit! Judgment!"

And thus, Judgment Time was conducted to Romino, and as expected, he got the big red X. "You see?" Deka Blue stated, "Delete Approved. The SPD's court system never lies."

"SPD… hehehe… You lot could never catch me. Why do you think you can capture me?" Romino said.

"Wanna bet?" Mikoto stated, undaunted. "Come on, we better not waste any time on this loser. I say kick his ass."

"Okay, it's time!" Mei said as she pulled out her Dino Buckler and prepared to transform.

"**Dino Buckler!**"

"…"

"**Bakuryuu Change.**"

"Damn it, get them!" As Romino commanded, the men in cloak started attacking Deka Blue, Ptera Ranger, Mele and Abare Killer.

The four, however, made a quick work of them. However, things got a little more hectic when eventually, Kiros and Lijewel entered the battle. "I see you're doing well, Super Sentai." Kiros stated, "It's too bad they're already donkeys, or else they'd make a good meat shield."

"I guess that can be expected from a lowlife scum like you." Deka Blue said as he blocked Kiros' sickle strike with his D-Rod. However, at that point, Abare Killer choked Kiros from the back.

"Hey you…" Abare Killer said, "Lijewel is never yours. Disown her, before I crush this neck of yours." However as he said that, he's instead blasted from behind by Lijewel. "Lijewel…! Get up, this scum isn't your man!"

"Kiros-sama is no scum! You're the scum!" Lijewel exclaimed as she prepared to strike again, but at that point Mele knocked her away with a running palm strike, and then Lijewel was instead fighting against Ptera Ranger with her Ranger Sword.

* * *

The fight raged for hours, until suddenly as Kiros ran and tried to slash Deka Blue, suddenly something was stuck at his back. "Ugh! In a place like this…!" Kiros grunted as he reached his back, but eventually his ass was kicked from the ground causing him to be launched on the sky. What followed was the very attacker rising from the ground and jumping to him… Ninja Black.

"Punishment." Ninja Black exclaimed, giving a thumbs down, before chopping Kiros down to the ground.

"Why you…!" Kiros grunted in annoyance.

"Jiraiya! You're safe!" Deka Blue exclaimed, approaching him, "Alone?"

"Nope." Ninja Black stated as suddenly there was a scream from Romino as suddenly Mega Yellow already leapt to him and knocked him down using the Blade Arm.

"You fat creep… you wanna know how much I want you beaten to a pulp?" As Mega Yellow said that, she raised her Blade Arm and as he got up, she started chopping him while stating some of her grudges, "This is for putting me in a skimpy bikini! And this is for scaring me off as a kid before I realized what kind of sicko you are! And this is for endangering Jiraiya! And this is for the parents you made sad for losing their sons! And this is for Tim, and the rest of those children whom you turned into donkeys for your own gold!" She was just interrupted when Lijewel blasted her, causing her to roll away approaching Ptera Ranger and Mele.

"Chisato! Are you all right?" Ptera Ranger asked.

"Kinda a long story, but I'm overall fine." Mega Yellow said, trying to save all the talk for later.

"Tch… they've come here." Kiros stated, before he eventually set his eyes to Mega Yellow, "But at any rate, thanks for that spectacular performance, babe. I never have been so entertained. You're really a looker…" And at that moment, it's not just Mega Yellow who shot the Mega Sling straight to Kiros' face, but also Ninja Black with his Black Bow, although he dodged.

"Go to Hell." Both Ninja Black and Mega Yellow said in unison and anger after all they went through, and while Mega Yellow spoke in Japanese, Ninja Black spoke in English.

"Hah! I still believe we'd win." Romino said confidently, "As long as we stick together!"

And just as he spoke and the rest continued to fight, they suddenly saw Budoroba being tossed into the battle, "Oh no! Budoroba!" Romino exclaimed as the one who threw it walked inside…

"Takeru! There you are!" Deka Blue stated, greeting Red Mask, "Everything okay over there?" He asked, in which Red Mask just nodded.

"Seems like everyone's here too." Red Mask stated as he approached the team.

"Takeru! So you were the one who released them…" Kiros said angrily, "I'd beat you to a pulp for it… but then, I had my orders from Long. Lijewel, we're pulling back."

"Huh?" Romino suddenly panicked, "Where are you going? ! Are you leaving me? ! Please! I—"

"Stop whining, you twerp!" Kiros shouted, "I'm here for a certain purpose from your island! Not to become your eternal client! You can fend them off yourself."

"Ayup, don't forget to use my Trinoid!" Lijewel added, before turning towards the heroes, "And as of the rest of you… Bye bye!" With that, the two suddenly vanished.

"No! Don't leave me!" Romino suddenly begged.

"So now it's just you." Red Mask stated, looking at how pathetic he got, "You've got no more chances. If you want to apologize, apologize for those children you sent to deaths because you turned them into donkeys! We'll make you meet them soon!"

"Hahahaha!" Romino suddenly laughed in a fit of insanity, "Are you saying that donkeys go to heaven? ! You're joking! There's only hell awaiting them for their unrepentant lifestyle!"

"Hell? Unrepentant?" Ninja Black added, "You sure you're pointing at the right person?"

"All those children probably apologized for their misdeeds and God would certainly forgive them and allow them to the Heaven." Mega Yellow added, "But you? ! You're going to hell!"

"You won't catch me. Who do you think you are? !" Romino yelled, his sanity continuing to slip.

"You won't be caught. You will be killed." Red Mask added, "And if you're asking our name, then you shall receive it as well…"

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"Excitement at its finest. Abare Killer!"

"We are…" As Red Mask exclaimed and made it short unlike before, there was no interruption, and he could finish properly, "**Super Sentai!**"

As the Super Sentai made their appearance, suddenly the donkeys went wild. They felt like cheering their heroes, whom they know would save them. This didn't sit well to Budoroba, "D-damn it! It's like they're losing their bad-boy vibes!"

"But even then, it's already too late! They're already cursed, they can never turn back!" Romino tried to reassure. But then he made a single whistling sound, causing the Barmia soldiers and the Men in Cloak, now revealing themselves as Anaroids, to cover him as he yelled, "You guys are paid to protect me, now do your job!"

"Let's go!" The Super Sentai proceeded forward, intending to defeat the enemy and destroy this activity of child enslaving once and for all.

Seeing how the Barmia soldiers and Anaroids were attacking the team, something struck Budoroba. "At this rate, I'll have to use the forbidden fruit!" As he said that, he pulled a grape bigger than usual and tossed it upwards. In its place was a carriage, carried with a big, black donkey. If there was a black horse with flaming mane in Hell, this would be its donkey equivalent. Budoroba then leapt and grabbed its whip, whipping the hellish donkey, "Now! Trample them!"

The carriage ran, interrupting the Super Sentai's fight. "Whoa! What is this…!" Red Mask dodged the donkey running.

"A Nightmare Donkey? ! That's a first…" Ninja Black commented, as he looked at the donkey. But when it tried running to him, it's Mega Yellow who pulled him out.

"No time for commentaries now, Jiraiya!"

In the meantime, the hellish donkey began running through, disregarding whether it trampled fellow soldiers. "Get in my way and you die!" Budoroba said. Suddenly, the hellish donkey looked upon the formerly-human donkeys, "Well, boys… my friend here could use some companions… Be with them!"

"Everyone run!" Ptera Ranger yelled as the donkeys knew what would happen, and they quickly ran.

As the hellish donkey approached her, she dodged in time, before shooting one of its eyes with Ptera Arrow, while the other eye was shot by Deka Blue with the D-Sniper. The donkey neighed… but then the eyes regenerated. "Ooh, now you've made him mad…"

"Really." Suddenly, Abare Killer approached it with his arms crossed, "Hey, jackass. Wanna have a race? You're like a snail compared to me."

"Oh, that does it! My friend doesn't take it well!" Budoroba yelled as he lashed his whip further, causing the hellish donkey to try to run against Abare Killer. The latter simply ran with his super speed, leaving the whole battlefield.

"Hey! Come back here!" Romino yelled, a little bit panicked as that's one more ally leaving him.

"Mikoto… what is he doing, running off like that?" Deka Blue asked.

"Knowing him, I'd say he's got himself a plan." Red Mask said as he looked around, noticing that Mele was also missing, 'They'll work it out. For now, more enemies await!' And so the team resumed fighting the remaining Barmia soldiers and Anaroids.

* * *

Abare Killer ran off, heading to a cliff area, still outrunning the carriage. "Damn it, you're persistent!" Budoroba cursed as he whipped the donkey, "But regardless, once you're cornered, there'll be nothing you can do!"

They did reach the end of the cliff . However, Abare Killer didn't show any signs of faltering. Budoroba was sure to either trample him or kick him to the cliff which would toss him to the sea. However, in the most critical moment, he felt like being kicked on the face, knocking him down. "Ow! Wha-aack!" Something then picked him up on the neck and suddenly he was forcefully gotten to jump off his carriage, and the speed of the carriage was too much for the donkey to stop and it ended up falling to the cliff. "Nooo!"

"You did your job well, I suppose." Abare Killer stated as the one who brought Budoroba down was revealed to be Mele, who used her camouflage to stay undetected. All while choking Budoroba upwards, Mele opened her mouth… and unleashed a barrage of tongue thrusts towards Budoroba, before dropping him.

"Ooh… I feel… weak…" Budoroba stated.

"Of course. After I hit your points with Mukou Shouha, you should be." Mele stated coldly, "Now then, what are we going to do with this loser…"

"S… spare me, please! I'm… I'm just…" Budoroba then begged for mercy. At that point, Abare Killer picked him up on the neck.

"You know, if you can answer this one question… with ANY answer, right or wrong… I'll let you go." Abare Killer said.

"Mikoto, you're not thinking to…!" Mele tried to warn him, but Abare Killer stayed on his course.

"He's a Trinoid. It's the least I can do." Abare Killer stated, before turning back towards Budoroba, "So… who created you? Usually it's Mikela who creates Trinoid, but I don't see him anywhere." As he said that, he slowly approached the cliff. "Answer!"

"I… I was created by Lijewel!" Budoroba answered, "I was just born shortly before" Abare Killer was slightly startled with the revelation, but he didn't let go.

'Now Lijewel can create monsters like Mikela? Hmm… interesting. What kind of stuff did Long put into her?' Abare Killer thought, before he eventually said, "Good answer."

"Good answer? Does that mean I'm free?" Budoroba said in happiness.

"You're a funny guy, Budoroba. However, I've got news for you." Abare Killer said in a soft tone, before he eventually reverted to a more sinister one as he said… "I lied." As he said that, he lets go of his grip, dropping the monster to the sea. And as it hit the rocks there, it exploded. He waited for a bit… but nothing happened. "Guess nobody calls that rain to enlarge that Trinoid. Saves my time anyway."

"Your equivalent of Jashin Gouten Hen, huh?" Mele added, "Regardless, I think we wasted enough time for that loser. Let's get back."

"Yeah, but you gotta stop being that overly grumpy, Miss Sexy." Abare Killer stated as he walked, "After all, you played part in killing him too. Okay, next up, that stupid child slaver."

"Stop calling me that!" Mele was angry as she approached Abare Killer as in trying to punch him, but to tease her further, he used his super speed to run off, "Wait, damn it!" Mele had no choice but to chase after him.

* * *

When they arrived, they saw the team already cornering Romino. He lost all his confidence and was begging for mercy. "Please, spare me…! I… I just did what I had to do to make a living…"

"Don't give me that excuse! There's a lot of jobs available!" Mega Yellow said angrily, "Yet what you did was child slavery!"

"That is correct!" Ptera Ranger added, "Fortune means nothing when it's built on the sufferings of the innocents!"

"I'll change! Don't worry!" Romino begged again, "Give me another chance!"

"Really… then remember what the boys said as they slowly turn into donkeys and you sell them to god-knows-where!" Red Mask added, he's equally angry. "Isn't that the same? They want another chance to redeem their misbehavior, but no! It's always 'you're now my source of profit' to you, you monster!" Romino was silent hearing it, unable to come up with rebukes because all of them were true.

"Where's your confidence now…?" Mele suddenly said when she arrived with Abare Killer, "So when you're cornered, all you do is bawl. Pathetic!"

"Guess you can now feel how pathetic you are when cornered…" Ninja Black also said, "Like how the boys felt pathetic when they're in your clutches."

"Don't weasel out of this one, it's useless." Deka Blue said, "Child slavery is a serious crime. In the name of law, I'll carry out your punishment."

"OK, are we done? Get on with the finisher already." Abare Killer said.

"Very well… take formation!" Red Mask said as everyone took their positions and he enlarged the ball. He threw the ball first to Mele, who kicked it to Abare Killer, who slashed it with Wing Pentact to Deka Blue, who delivered a roundhouse kick to Ptera Ranger, who bashed it upwards with the bow of Ptera Arrow…

And it headed to both Ninja Black and Mega Yellow.

"Begone, blight to all children." The two stated, as they prepared their weapons.

"Blade Arm!"

"Kakure-Ryuu! Nagareboshi!"

As Ninja Black slashed in a star shape, Mega Yellow also slashed in the similar figure. On their last slash, the ball was launched and went through Romino.

"Noooo! M… my… money…!" As Romino lamented that he'd never feel his money again, he eventually exploded.

"_Got you!_" Deka Blue stated, realizing that the highly sought Alienizer received his punishment, "With this case _complete!_"

On Romino's death, suddenly the ground started to quake. "What, an earthquake…? !" Ninja Black exclaimed and tried to guess.

"If this is really an earthquake, then probably Mother Nature saw it fit that this travesty was to put to an end." Ptera Ranger commented as suddenly, cracks on the ground were created. Thankfully, none of the donkeys were on the other side.

"At any rate, we better get out of here!" Red Mask stated, "Everyone, move!"

Thus the Super Sentai, along with the donkeys ran off, escaping the Pleasure Island as it began to sink…

* * *

When they reached the main island, they realized that the quake became less severe. They watched from afar as the cursed island sank to the bottom of the sea, and never again would it curse children. "Now this is something that story should've included…" Mega Yellow said, "A triumphant victory for justice!"

"I'm starting to think you're missing the whole point of the book, but… whatever." Abare Killer sighed, seeing how Mega Yellow was being enthusiastic.

"So, island gone, and the donkeys…" As Mele looked, slowly, she saw the donkeys once again transforming… back into humans.

"Aah! I'm back to normal!" The children said to each other, a lot were crying in happiness as they regained their humanity back.

"It looks like once the island is gone, so is the curse…" Deka Blue noted, "And it all began once Romino was deleted… I surmise that he bore the curse and the life of the island. So once he's dead… it's all over. He got what he deserved."

"Heh, I hope he enjoys being Rio-sama's punching bag when he arrives at Hell." Mele remarked, but somehow, it made her long for Rio further.

"Even so…" Ninja Black stated, "I think despite how much a bad boy they were, they still hold an endearment for us Super Sentai. Perhaps it's what redeemed them."

"I think so as well." Ptera Ranger said, remembering how ecstatic the children were seeing Deka Blue, "So it's not just us who freed them. They are able to find their redemption a bit."

"Thank you, Super Sentai!" The children eventually surrounded the Super Sentai and hugged them in gratitude. Even Mele and Abare Killer was speechless, letting the children show their gratitude.

"Your curse is over, children." Red Mask exclaimed as he raised one of the children, "Now you must return to your parents, they're worried sick about you all. Even if they were angry with your misbehaving, they will surely forgive you… as long as you stop misbehaving. Promise?"

"Yes, we promise!" The children one by one answered, and eventually the team left the vicinity.

* * *

As the team eventually de-transformed and arrived to the city as the morning sun rose, the parents of the children eventually ran towards them to embrace their children. The sight was quite heartwarming, to see that an undocumented part of a fairy tale brought to an end with a happy note.

'We did it, Sakura.' Takeru noted, thinking of the one who alerted him the presence of such island, 'I guess you can be assured that this island won't burden you anymore.'

"So… Jiraiya?" Suddenly, Chisato looked at Jiraiya as she smiled, "Thank you."

"Oh, no I don't think I really deserve thanks…" Jiraiya said, scratching his head.

"You really look like a prince in the fairy tales when you lifted me up and saved me from that train." Chisato assured him, "It was… actually pretty fun."

"But the prince got caught too…" Jiraiya still insisted to humble himself.

"Aaah? What's this?" All of the sudden, Mei made a playful question, "Jiraiya and Chisato… I wonder if something happened between you two?" She did remember last time Chisato took portraits of her after the faux-wedding with Hoji and teased for it. Finally, she hoped there'd be some form of payback.

"Mei? N-no, nothing, really!" Chisato shook her head and hand, "We… we're just doing fine like a friend, right?"

"Well, uh…" Jiraiya tried to come up with a witty remark, but couldn't come up with it.

"Heh, you two… I heard what you said." Mikoto suddenly came up to them, "This looks interesting. So would you share it already?"

"Nothing special, really!" Chisato tried to deny again, "We… well, we just had a play for children before this all happened…"

"_Yeah. _ That's what we're talking about!" Jiraiya finally had something to agree about, however, Mei and Mikoto continued to push the two further, as Takeru, Hoji and Mele just watched.

"Well, I'll leave the rest to her then." Hoji smirked, knowing that he also shared Mei's feeling about being teased before.

"Just a question, though…" Mele suddenly brought up a question, "What of those not from this city?"

"I think the SPD would have a field day for it." Takeru noted. However, something also bugged his mind in the same time… 'But what is Kiros doing in that place? I'm not seeing why he would've done things with kids like that when his interest is women… I think he's hiding some ulterior motives behind supporting Romino…'

As eventually it's time to return, the Super Sentai walked away waving good bye to the parents and children, except Mele and Mikoto who were too aloof to do that. The children learnt their lessons and were saved, while an unpunished evil from a fairy tale was finally punished. However, behind that, there were still the plotting behind the scenes by Long's group. Just how would the Super Sentai fare against them? Don't give up! Good luck, Super Sentai!

* * *

"So, did you come with what we sought." Back at the villains' base, Abrellar greeted Kiros, while Long was being 'treated' by Lijewel somewhere else.

"Yep. One of your bats was working wonders." Kiros stated as he handed a bat to Abrellar. It was after all part of the Black Market merchant after all.

"Heh heh… Hopefully this will never reach Long's ears…" Abrellar chuckled, also still plotting even against Long. He'd never bow his head for that long after all.

"Also, Shibolena…" Kiros stated as he looked at the one next to Abrellar, Shibolena. "This is what you also sought, right?" He then pulled out something else from his pocket… a digital card.

"This…!" Shibolena was shocked when she picked the card up. The card looked familiar to her…

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: So it ends. All of you who were horrified with The Coachman from Pinocchio and him being a Karma Houdini, there you have it! He's receiving his just desserts! This also shed some relations between Jiraiya and Chisato, and I know, it's just friendship, not romance. Still, a good way for 'payback' with last time they teased Hoji and Mei. Also, sorry again for Chisato's predicament. Guess it just shows how dirty the enemy is and how they plan to corrupt the children further with such images. Though, I would say that the metal bikini that Chisato is forced to wear is based on that slave outfit worn by Princess Leia in Star Wars when she's in Jabba the Hut's servitude...

But then, Shibolena seems to have received a certain card. Wonder what it will means... Regardless, stay tuned for the next chapter and bring on your reviews!


	19. Mei's Dear Pet

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Miss me? Well, this is kinda an advancing chapter, not-so-filler and introduced something. Well keep reading!

* * *

**CHAPTER 19: Mei's Dear Pet  
**

* * *

It was quite the busy day in the villains' hideout. With the card that Kiros acquired from the Pleasure Island, it drove Shibolena and even Abrellar, along with Long, was busy working on the computers, while Abrellar and Shibolena took care of the technological things, Long took care of the mystical thing required. The card was in fact one of the legacy of Nejirejia Kingdom… the cards containing Jaden Sentai Nejiranger in data form. They were efficient evil counterparts to the Megaranger and were able to wreak havoc against them. If they were able to revive them, the Super Sentai would be in trouble.

And eventually, the day arrived that they would submit the final data to revive the Nejirangers. All villains gathered in the main hall as Shibolena operated the machine. "Here we go. Return to existence… Jaden Sentai Nejiranger! … Whichever you are." As she exclaimed, she pressed a button and the machine unleashed a beam to the ground, creating some explosion.

As the dust cleared, to the villains' surprise… there's just one figure.

"Urrgh…" The figure drapped in yellow and black suit, "Where am I? !"

"So it is Neji Yellow." Shibolena stated, declaring the figure's name.

"Hmph, so it is just one. Are you sure this will be enough?" Long asked, looking at Abrellar.

"Of course it is possible, for that plan." Abrellar nodded, "So long as one Nejiranger exist, I can modify the rest so other six will be available." Their moment was interrupted when the door to the operation room was bashed in, and Neji Yellow entered.

"You bastards… what the hell do you think you're doing? !" Neji Yellow yelled as she put her hands forward and blasted the whole room. While Abrellar and Shibolena had to take cover, Long wasn't even flinching.

"Neji Yellow, you need to calm down a little!" Shibolena said, "You said you wanted to defeat the Megarangers? ! Well, guess what, Mega Yellow is here!"

"What…? !" Neji Yellow was surprised hearing it.

"It's a long story… but Mega Yellow has been holing up within a team of similar warriors like Megaranger, called 'Super Sentai'." Long explained, "You might not even know their fighting style so if you want to fight Mega Yellow freely, you're going to cooperate with us."

"Cooperate… with you? !" Neji Yellow was exparasted, her tone was harsh. Especially when she looked at Shibolena, "You think I've forgotten my grudge to Dr. Hinelar and his cronies, including you? !" At that point Shibolena bit her lips. It's true that in the last moments of Nejiranger, they were betrayed by Dr. Hinelar, who ordered them to go on suicide attacks and serve as his pawn to take over the Nejirejia Kingdom, for their deaths would spell the death of Emperor Javious. And he succeeded. And now there's this bunch of unknown people trying to butt in to her business, "I don't need your help—"

It was at that moment Long suddenly moved forward in a flash and began punching and kicking Neji Yellow, without her being able to hit back when she did it. "Wrong answer. Whether you need our help or not… your role is set. You WILL cooperate with us."

"Screw… you…!" Neji Yellow was about to get up but at that moment, there were bombardment of energy blasts headed to her back, Lijewel came to back Long up. This enabled Long to grab Neji Yellow's head and bashed it to the ground, rendering her unconscious.

"Naughty one, you need to calm down, and go on with Master Long's brilliant plan." Lijewel remarked as the rest surrounded Neji Yellow.

"I didn't expect her to have such grudge." Abrellar stated, although Shibolena was just silent, "Well this just means we have to modify her loyalty a little."

"As long as you just remove her animosity to us, I think everything will be fine…" Shibolena stated as Abrellar nodded, "Just be ready for the ingredients necessary for it."

* * *

Eventually the villains had Neji Yellow strapped in an operating table and had her data brain modified so she was less violent to the ones supposed to be her allies. Shibolena was operating the controls, observed by Abrellar. It was at that time that Lamie entered, bringing forth a Dora monster in form of a black cat with some white spots. "I brought one Dora Monster as requested." Lamie stated, "This is… Dora Catsith."

"Good. You do realize that this monster will store those. The doom of Super Sentai." Abrellar said, "With the modification we'll give from Neji Yellow… But first let me hear what it can do."

"Cat-like reflexes and sharp claws. Seems normal. However, it has one ability that may be able to kill the Super Sentai before even our plan can be carried out." Lamie smirked, "It can kill the Super Sentai when they're not aware. As of how it does it, I think you'd be best to watch yourself."

"Excellent." Abrellar nodded, "Any chance we can use it to Long?"

"With his crazy awareness, I think he'd suspect it in the first place." Lamie sighed, realizing that they still got long ways to defeat Long and restore themselves from this humiliation of being his slaves, "I think we'd best concentrate on the Super Sentai first."

"I suppose so…" Abrellar said as he looked further to Neji Yellow's brainwashing process.

* * *

There was a heavy sigh coming in from Bonds. That place was inhabited with just Mele at that moment. Everyone else has been inspired by Mikoto's attempt to open up a small medic stand, thus they didn't want to just sit idly like that. Those who haven't gotten a job, tried to apply with one, even if temporary. Aside of Hoji who's been a member of SPD and still was, he had to be away from the team in order to organize the missing children who were restored once the Pleasure Island incident concluded, and Chisato who still got her college, everyone drifted away or at least stopped looking like people with no day jobs. Jiraiya became more serious with his crepe stand. Mei provided daycare to many children for free if their parents ended up busy and usually helped out in kindergarten, playing with the children and making them happy. Takeru, since he was unable to resume his racing career, instead became a karate instructor that teaches children self-defense for free. Of course such thing crossed Mele's mind as well, but she just thought Rin Jyuu Ken wasn't something to be taught to children.

'Rio-sama, I'm starting to miss you…' Mele sighed, while sitting down on a dining table, as she eventually buried her face to the table out of boredom.

"Hello!" The door opened and Takeru entered, all sweating, "Ah, man! The kids sure were in high spirits today!" He commented, remembering how the children were in great mood as he trained them. "So, Mele! What's up?"

"As you can see. Bored as hell." Mele said.

"You should totally get a job too! It's fun, you know…" Takeru said, but then Mele slammed her fist to the table as she got up.

"What? ! You want me to teach Rin Jyuu Ken? !" She yelled, "Stop joking with me! This is not martial arts for public! And you know how destructive it is in the hands of those not mature enough! Rio-sama wouldn't even want to teach that! Don't compare me to those Geki Jyuu Ken users that teach people in public!"

"Well, um…" Takeru stated, a little stammering, "I didn't say you need to give martial arts instructions… I mean, with that kind of sexy body of yours, you could pass off as a model…" And what followed was a fist to Takeru's face, "Ow!"

"Don't get any ideas from that Mikoto." Mele said, annoyed, "The one that can enjoy this kind of body is only Rio-sama."

"Maybe you'll be interested if I show you some magazine…" Takeru said, rubbing his nose, "Trust me. Jobs like that can be fun…"

"Um… you guys?" There was a voice that called them and when they turned, they saw Mei, and on her hand was a black cat, which she petted, "I'm back. How's your day?"

"Really good, I guess, Mei." Takeru answered, smiling.

"Bored." Mele answered in a deadpan tone, "So… what's that cat doing on your hand?"

"Ah, this?" Mei said, "One of the children I took care of found him and gave it to me, since his parents do not allow pets at home. What do you think, he's such a cutie, right?"

The cat purred and gave a soft 'meow'. Instead Mei approached Mele and grabbed her hand. "W… what?" Mele was about to protest, but then Mei put her hands on the cat's head, patting it. For some reason, Mele felt at peace. 'What…? This… this isn't so bad…'

"Wow, so you even like him?" Mei said, happily, "See, Geki? Even Mele likes you!"

"Geki…?" Takeru was a little surprised, "You didn't just name him after the leader of the Zyurangers, did you?"

"On the contrary, that's what I intended." Mei said, "It's because I respected him so much that I named this cutie after him. It's such a honor, right, Geki?" She smiled at the cat, and the cat let out a soft 'meow' to her.

"What a nice cat. Can I also pet him…?" Takeru said as he had his hand approaching the cat's head… but then the cat suddenly opened its mouth… and bit Takeru's finger, "OW!"

"Geki, don't do that!" Mei reprimanded the cat as eventually he let go while Takeru wiggled his bitten hand, "Sorry, Takeru. It seems that Geki is scared at you…"

"Why did 'scared' creature resort to biting instead of cowering…" Takeru lamented as his finger continue to hurt.

"Let me guess. You want to say 'can this thing stay with us?'?" Mele asked, guessing what Mei was thinking.

"Well…" Takeru said, his fingers still a bit hurt, "There's no rules about 'No pets allowed in Bonds'… so why not?"

"Really? I was about to ask that! Thank you, Takeru!" Mei said happily as she looked at the cat, "See, Geki? You now have a home!" After all Mei found the cat in stray condition. It was like a homeless cat so she took pity on it and took care of it with the child she was caring for, until the time was up and she had to take it home since the child she was taking care of had a rule of 'no pets allowed'.

And just shortly after, the door opened, and Jiraiya along with Chisato and Mikoto entered. "Yo." Mikoto greeted casually.

"Ah, welcome back everyone!" Mei greeted happily, until she noticed someone's missing, "Except Hoji, I guess…"

"Well, it can't be helped. The last incident was a really big incident that doesn't just affect Earth." Jiraiya explained, "Of course he's going to be busy."

"Hey, Mei!" Chisato finally noticed the cat on Mei's hand, "Where'd you get that cat? It's such a cutie!" She also petted the cat with no problem as the cat meowed nicely.

"Oh, you agree too, Chisato?" Mei was also glad that many agreed with her. Jiraiya also took turns in petting it too, "I found him as a stray cat and just brought him here. I named him Geki."

"Geki? As in… your red Zyuranger?" Jiraiya asked, a bit shocked.

"Yeah, it's out of respect. It's a good name, right, Geki?" Mei said to the cat, smiling.

"You think you're some animal-talker?" Mikoto said cockily as he approached the cat, "Then you must be some sort of freak of nature to be able to talk like that. Not even human… right?" He said as he petted the cat, and the cat also meowed lightly.

"Mikoto! That just means you're just non-human like I am!" Mei retorted, as Mikoto laughed a little, realizing that his joke has been revealed.

"And even that cat accepts Mikoto…" Mele commented, "I think cats hate you, Takeru. Or think you're a devil or sorts."

"What? ! Cats don't hate me! Back when I was a kid, I used to pet a lot of cats!" Takeru protested at the notion that he's a blight to all cats, "Okay, I'll show you once again!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind and slowly approached Mei. "Okay… good kitty… good kitty…" He approached the cat with his hand, trying to pet it…

And it bit him. Again.

"OW!"

"Geki! Bad boy!" Mei scolded as she tapped its head lightly as a reprimanding, "I'm sorry, Takeru…"

"I think I'm gonna need time until it accepts me…"

* * *

And so… the days went on like normal. Everyone was up with their own jobs, but they kept contact. Mele was still thinking of what will her 'day job' would look like. However, on the days where Bonds were empty, she started thinking… if one day she could settle with Rio, she'd need to be as a good companion as she was. It reminded her of that time she was stuck into the feudal era and became 'amnesiac' with Rio, she played the part as a good housewife. She did have an enjoyment in it, aside of her devotion to Rio. So she came to a decision that she'd kill some time by being Bonds' caretaker, cleaning it up. 'It'll be a good practice if I and Rio-sama are to be together in a settlement!'

Days passed… and Takeru seemingly could never get the approval of Geki. That cat continuously tried to bite Takeru whenever he tried petting it. But he never gave up or have a bad feeling on the cat.

* * *

However, that one night, when everyone was sleeping, there was laughter in the enemy's base. From Lamie. "Ahahaha! And she called it 'Geki'! Man, that's rich! Hahaha!" She was holding her stomach, unable to hold off the laughter on her.

"What's so funny about 'Geki'?" Gasha Dokuro entered and asked, stunned at how Lamie was laughing off like that.

"Mei… she named it 'Geki', after Tyranno Ranger of the Zyuranger!" Lamie explained, "That poor girl. Not only her naming sense is a bit off, she didn't realize she's naming her doom after her leader!"

"How does that work anyway?" Gasha Dokuro asked, as he didn't quite get what she said.

"You just watch and see. Soon, I'll probably be entering the battlefield and you can watch our plan unfold." Lamie said confidently, as she saw from afar, Mei sleeping with a cat plushie, while continuing to mutter the words.

"Geki… it tickles… stop… Geki, you…"

"Snrk… Hahahaha!" And Lamie couldn't stop laughing at how silly it looked to her as well as Mei being unaware of the 'doom' approaching her.

* * *

Eventually one day, at Sunday, the team was having their annual meeting. It was at that point Mei barged into the meeting room, looking worried, "Has anyone seen Geki today?"

"Huh?" Chisato said, "Sorry, but we haven't seen that cat. What's the matter?"

"I can't find him anywhere! Oh dear, oh dear…" Mei said as she looked more worried, "Geki, where are you…?" It was at that time that there was an alarm. "Oh, why now? !"

"Mei! I know you're worried, but we'll have to take care of the monster from this alarm first." Takeru reminded as he got up, "Once we're done, we'll look for Geki."

"… Okay." Mei realized that the lives of the people took priority and then she eventually joined the rest to investigate on the alarm.

"I guess we'll have to make due without Hoji." Jiraiya noticed. "Well, hopefully this won't be too bad… Chisato, what are you doing?" However he's also surprised that Chisato was typing something from her communicator.

"Just in case, I'll call Hoji to help." Chisato explained, "Just in case today's monster is tough that we need the Super Sentai Ball."

* * *

The alarm got them to a city where Lamie was waiting, along with a slew of Golems as well as Dora Catsith. "Heh, so there you are, Super Sentai." Lamie declared, "I've been waiting."

"Lamie…" Mei also said back, "You'll stop this rampage right now!"

"Everyone, keep your guard up." Jiraiya said, "Knowing their new strategy, I'm not sure if random rampage and chaos are their ultimate goal."

"Why do you even care when you're going to die anyway?" Lamie cut back the words as she pointed her sword forward, "Golems, Dora Catsith… Get them!"

The Golems came forward and started attacking the Super Sentai, as they continued to fight on unmorphed. However, it wasn't quite much a problem on them. However, in a quick moment, Dora Catsith displayed great speed and eventually in some dashes, he knocked everyone else down.

"Tch… copying my super speed…" Mikoto huffed as he get up, "Cat, wanna play tag?" At the response, Dora Catsith roared and Mikoto made the first move… "**Bakuryuu Change.**" He turned into Abare Killer and made some hand gestures beckoning him to come, "Here, kitty… Here, pussy…"

"Don't let that fool make fun of you! Dora Catsith!" Lamie ordered and Dora Catsith ended up chasing Abare Killer, their speed nearly matching together. In the meantime, the scorpion lady turned towards the rest, "As of the rest of you… I'll take you on."

"You asked for it, you got it. Let's go!" Takeru exclaimed as they prepared to transform.

"**Aura Mask! Red Mask!**"

"**Dino Buckler!**"

"**Super Henge! Doron Changer!**"

"**Install! Megaranger!**"

"…"

And so, the five transformed as well and fought against Lamie. However, as usual, the scorpion lady was really tough, even alone. She was after all one of Bandora's right-hand woman.

And in the same time, Abare Killer was having a little trouble too. While their speed was matched, it was like Dora Catsith could attack faster and landed him more hits, "Damn… So this kitty got cat reflexes…"

At that moment, however, their chase eventually was about to get near where Red Mask and the others were fighting. At that moment, sensing that they're coming, suddenly Red Mask took a swing with his Masky Blade, and since that was unexpected, it hit Dora Catsith on his hand, wounding it, and eventually enabling Abare Killer to kick it on the face, knocking it away.

"Way to go, Takeru!" Mega Yellow cheered.

"Well, always need to be full of surprises, of course." Red Mask said, but then he raised his Masky Blade as he had to block Lamie's sword attack.

"How dare you make fun of him…!" Lamie growled as their sword continue to clash. But then, she felt like her feet being hit by something. It turned out both Ptera Ranger and Ninja Black shot her feet with their arrows, sticking it to the ground. And when she looked up, Mele was already leaping to her.

"Rin Jyuu Chameleon Ken Ringi! Karen Toppa!" With that she unleashed a diving kick right onto Lamie's face, knocking her away.

"How dare you do this to my face!" Lamie yelled, rubbing her face. "Dora Catsith!" As she yelled further, the Dora Catsith rushed and once again hit the Super Sentai with its super speed. However… suddenly, Lamie raised her hand, "Halt for the moment, Dora Catsith!" She looked around, "You… that blue one isn't present here…? !"

"Hoji isn't here. But that will not bring us down!" Ptera Ranger exclaimed, "Come on, Lamie. We can go on further."

"On second thought, I think that'd be enough for today." Lamie suddenly said, "Dora Catsith, we're retreating!" On her word, the two retreated.

"Huh? What was that about?" Mele asked, "They retreated because we're lacking one member? Weirdo."

* * *

However, once they're out of sight, Lamie was communicating through the communicator given by Shibolena. "Yeah, got all of them… except that blue one. He's not seen… Yes, yes, I'll try to search further."

Once she closed the communicator, she then turned towards Dora Catsith, "Okay, back to position, Dora Catsith."

* * *

Back in Bonds, everyone was looking for Geki the cat. They searched from the storeroom to even everyone's room. However, they thus far found nothing.

After a few hours, Takeru finally entered the room and sensed that something was wrong. 'Something just doesn't smell right here…' He thought as he covered his nose, something smelt really strong at the moment. When he looked at the wall, he then found it kind of wet. And from the look of it, it's like an animal peed on it. 'I don't recall I brought any dogs here… Or could it be…!'

"Meow…"

There was a meow sound and when Takeru looked, there came Geki the cat, walking onto him after hiding below the bed. "Oh! There you are, Geki! You got Mei worried, little guy!" Takeru smiled as he approached Geki. He reached out his hand to pet it, but then saw that its front leg, especially its right one, was a bit wounded. 'Wait, could it be…!' Takeru was shocked, it was the same spot that he slashed Dora Catsith as well.

But then his thought got interrupted when Geki once again bit his hand, "OW!"

"Takeru! Did something happen? !" Chisato's voice was heard and shortly after everyone got into his room… in which they found Takeru being bitten, "Oh, you found him."

"Geki! Stop it!" Mei called out and Geki stopped biting. She gestured to it and it ran to her, resting on her hands, "Don't be such a naughty boy, okay?"

"Mei, you pamper it too much." Mele commented.

"Something kinda stinks…" Jiraiya noted as he started to cover his nose.

"Yeah, okay! We're getting outta here for now!" Takeru quickly covered the issue and drove everyone out.

Everyone was getting out of the room, but then they heard a sound. A distinctive sound that they just heard. "Doesn't that sound just like that Dora Catsith?" Mikoto asked, as it was very distinctive. The creature had a different sound than normal cats anyway.

And at the same time, Takeru looked that Geki opened its mouth. "Mei, I'm not sure if this is right, but…" The sound, the color scheme of the cat, the wound on the leg… they were all too suspicious. Add to the fact that Geki went missing when Dora Catsith appeared. "Can we check up on Geki a bit?"

"What for?" Mei asked, still not quite understanding what he was getting at.

"He's checking if that cat is actually that monster in disguise." Mikoto bluntly answered, which shocked the rest.

"What? ! How did you come up with such conclusion? !" Chisato asked in disbelief, "Or you're just screwing with us?"

"Mikoto might be making a point, though." Jiraiya added, "I mean, the cat doesn't seem to like Takeru. So probably that's why he wanted it checked up."

"What are you talking about? !" Suddenly Mei yelled, obviously she was getting uneasy with all the rumor mills, "Geki is Geki! He's not a monster!"

"Stop being naïve." Mele reprimanded, "Disguising as a harmless creature is a legitimate strategy for the evil forces. Long wouldn't be above using such strategy, though of course Rio-sama is above it."

"That's why we're sorry about this, Mei… but can you…" Takeru was about to say something, but then suddenly, Mei ran off, heading to the teleporter, "Mei! Hey, I'm not finished!"

"If your hunch is really true, Takeru…" Jiraiya suddenly realized something, "Then Mei is in trouble! Let's go after her!"

* * *

The team continued to chase after Mei to the streets. "Mei, wait!" Everyone called her out, but she didn't answer at all. She just continued to run.

However, their chase was eventually interrupted when suddenly they found their paths barred, by Lamie, Shibolena and a whole slew of Golem and Kunekune soldiers. "You will not pass here, Super Sentai." Shibolena declared.

"Shibolena! Get out of our way!" Chisato yelled, "I don't have time for this!"

"She meant what she said." Lamie added, "Don't you feel sad? Your friend prioritized a cat, of all things, above you…"

"Perhaps our teamwork did fall into some misunderstanding at times…" Takeru nodded, "But we believe in her! That's why, get out of our way!"

"Make us!" Lamie beckoned.

"You asked for it!" Takeru said as he raised his hand, "Everyone, transform!"

"Right!" Everyone agreed and prepared to transform.

"**Aura Mask! Red Mask!**"

"**Super Henge! Doron Changer!**"

"**Install! Megaranger!**"

"…"

"**Bakuryuu Change.**"

Thus the five eventually transformed and tried their best to fight their way against the slew of soldiers. 'Dora Catsith isn't here…' Red Mask thought as he punched a Golem on the chest and shortly after performed a side kick to a Kunekune on the face, 'Could it be…!'

"Where the heck is that monster?" Ninja Black asked while he locked his Kakuremaru with Lamie's sword.

"He won't be meeting you soon." Lamie answered, "He's got his other operation."

In the meantime, however, Shibolena was slightly blundering that Mega Yellow was having no trouble in dodging most of her attacks. She eventually managed to land a horizontal chop with Blade Arm, knocking Shibolena away. "Ugh, I don't have time for this… Guys, I'll be going ahead!"

"We'll be counting on you! I'll leave Mei to you!" As Red Mask declared, Mega Yellow managed to run off, leaving the battlefield.

And strangely, there were no pursuits. "You just let her run away." Mele said, taking over Mega Yellow's fight as Shibolena got up, "Don't worry… I'll grind you to dust in her place." Thus Shibolena started fighting Mele, attacking with her swords at close range while Mele dodged or blocked. However, she fought better this time. 'This wasn't like how she fought her…!'

At that moment, Shibolena managed to blast Mele with the tip of her sword, knocking her away. "You… did you just hold back against Chisato? !"

"Haha, so you noticed…" Shibolena said confidently, "She is about to meet someone that will surprise her…"

"Like I care!" Mele yelled as she already rushed in for another set of attacks, "I meant my words when I said I'll grind you to dust!" Thus the fight continues, delaying their pursuit on both Mei and Chisato…

* * *

Mei managed to take refugee to the nearby woods. She was breathing heavily as she was running the whole time. "Huff… I can't believe that Takeru! There's no way someone as cute and innocent as you to be a monster… right, Geki?" She looked at the cat and hugged it again. It was too cute for her to resist. However, she finally noticed something…

"Ah! Your leg! Did you get hurt or something?" Mei asked, and knew what to do. But since she wasn't bringing any first aid tools, she had to make due with what she had… She ripped a small portion of the sleeve in her purple garb and then used it as a bandage for Geki. "It should do fine now…" In response, the cat meowed and started licking Mei on the cheek, "Ah, stop that! It tickles!" She said as she giggled, at least having fun.

Mei took a deep breath and started rethinking of what just happened. She then realized that perhaps her impulse was a little childish, blazing off like that and ignoring Takeru. 'Perhaps I should talk about it more… Besides, I'm sure Geki won't be revealed as a monster. It's just a misunderstanding, it shouldn't be something to ruin our friendship.'

"Geki, let's go back, okay?" Mei spoke, patting the cat's head, "It's okay, you'll be fine. A small check up won't do. You're definitely not a monster… a cute creature like you…"

Suddenly, however, the cat hissed. It leapt down, getting off from Mei's hold and ran off. "Ah! Wait, Geki!" Mei called as she ran deeper to the woods following Geki. Although deep down she seemed a little glad that it can run normally.

* * *

She eventually reached an open field inside the woods. The cat was there, lying down and seemingly squirming in pain. "Geki! Are you okay?" Mei called once more as she continued to approach it. However… something that happened next shocked Mei to the core. The cat, as it squirmed, started mutating, its hand became big and eventually it was able to stand on its two feet and its whole body grew big…

"Ge… ki…"

It turned out that the cat was none other than Dora Catsith itself. And it lunged to attack Mei almost immediately.

"KYAAAHH!"

* * *

'That sounds like… Mei…? !' Mega Yellow, still on the pursuit and entering the woods, managed to hear Mei's scream. She ran to the direction where she heard such commotion.

But she didn't expect someone kicking her from behind. Collapsing to the ground and getting up, Mega Yellow looked up and was shocked on who kicked her… and she was shocked, "N… no way… but you're…!"

"Only a Data Disc, you're going to say? Did you think that'd stop me, Mega Yellow?" It was Neji Yellow, and considering the last time Mega Yellow heard about her, she was shocked. The Nejirangers were turned into Data Discs in the end. "Regardless…" Neji Yellow said as she clenched both of her fists, "These woods will be your grave!"

With her chase to Mei halted, Mega Yellow had no choice but to fight against her evil counterpart. However, Neji Yellow, in her tempering process, was also enhanced strength-wise and was able to overwhelm Mega Yellow with more ease. 'No way, she's stronger than before…! I guess… returning with people like Abrellar and Long will give her that… but I can't fall here! Mei needs me…!'

* * *

"Agh!" Mei fell down at one swipe that she couldn't dodge from Dora Catsith. The beast looked relentless, pressing on its attack on her. 'At this rate, I have to do it…!' As she thought, she prepared her hand on her Dino Buckler. She prepared to transform, but then she hesitated.

'That…!' Her eyes were set towards the hand where Red Mask cut it. It was still wrapped with her cloth. The same bandage she used. 'Geki…' After all, she grew extremely fond with the cat. She remembered all the good times she had with the cat and remembering all those, she found herself stunned, unable to make a move. The chance was used by the monster to once again leap and slashed Mei with its claws. She was quick enough to protect herself with her hands, but she was once again knocked down.

'I… I can't do it… not to Geki…!' Mei lamented as she tried to get up, covering her hand which has started bleeding. She has treated it more than a pet, but also a dear friend. She couldn't find it in her heart to strike on it. And thus, she was unable to move at all as Dora Catsith continued to strike against her.

'I… I'm sorry, everyone…' Mei thought as she started to lose consciousness. However, one moment before she completely lost it, she heard one more exclamation.

"**Emergency!**"

"Monster! Trying to take advantage of us while I'm away, aren't you? !" That voice belonged to Deka Blue, already returned on Chisato's call. Using just his D-Rod, he began striking against the Dora Catsith. However, once again, its cat-like reflexes was hindering him.

"Guh… already detecting my moves like crazy…" Deka Blue thought, but then he decided to pull a surprise… He was attacking a lot with his D-Rod. Even if they were deflected, he didn't mind…

Until he suddenly punched Dora Catsith on the stomach, which it didn't expect after a long time dealing with the D-Rod. Dumbfounded, it was stunned, and Deka Blue wasted no time to put an end to this while taking advantage of its stunned status, "Blue Finish!" He cut down the monster diagonally on the chest, enough that it scarred it.

However, it wasn't enough to kill it. The monster resumed its assault and even managed to slash him on the stomach. "Gah! Well, it's not always going to be easy…"

"Aaah!" He heard something else. And from his side, he saw Mega Yellow being tossed to the battlefield.

"Chisato? !" Deka Blue called as he helped her get up, but then saw Neji Yellow approaching her, "Who're you…!"

"Hoji…!" Mega Yellow was surprised seeing Deka Blue arriving, but then knew this wasn't a good time for such 'welcome back', "Be careful. That's…"

"Neji Yellow… of Jaden Sentai Nejiranger." Neji Yellow introduced yourself, "You obstacle between me and Mega Yellow's death… out of my way!"

"_No._" Deka Blue instead combined his D-Rod and D-Knuckle into his D-Sniper and shot Neji Yellow on the chest.

"How dare you…!" Neji Yellow was about to charge forward and attack, but then several blasts were fired in front of her, "Who goes there…? !"

"Hoji! You're back." It was Red Mask, who arrived with Ninja Black, who also helped him shooting, along with Mele and Abare Killer. However, as he looked at Neji Yellow, he's a little confused, "And that's…"

"It's kinda long, but let's just say she's my evil counterpart made by Nejirejia Kingdom." Mega Yellow said, "So if you're here, that means Shibolena and the others…" And just as she said that, it's the Super Sentai's turn to be blasted from behind, as Lamie, Shibolena and their horde of soldiers arrived.

"Dead? Not a chance." Lamie answered. "It'll take more than that to defeat us! Very well… now that we're here, let's do this… Dora Catsith!"

"Neji Yellow!" Shibolena called, and due to the tempering, Neji Yellow obeyed like a servant. And such, everyone prepared to attack the Super Sentai.

And it was just then that Red Mask looked at the unconscious Mei, "It'll be dangerous if Mei is around, unconscious like that. Hoji, you take her to safety until she wakes up."

"Huh? But what about you?" Deka Blue asked.

"_Don't worry, we'll handle this._" Ninja Black assured him with a thumb up.

"Who the hell do you think we are?" Abare Killer looked at him, and as the first Golem leapt to him, he just swung his Wing Pentact backwards and took it down, "Get going." With that, he and the rest of Super Sentai engaged in a battle against the incoming horde, while Deka Blue took Mei onto his hands and escaped.

"You're not getting away with her!" Lamie yelled, realizing what happened. With her sword, she let out blasts aimed at Deka Blue, but that didn't stop him from running. She was about to send more, until she felt like there were a slash from behind. Knocked down, she noticed that Mele just snuck behind her with her camouflage ability and slashed her with her two sais.

"Try facing me instead." Mele challenged and thus Lamie once again concentrated on fighting the heroes.

* * *

"Mei… get up… Mei…"

"Ugh…" The Risha Tribe Princess slowly opened her eyes. When she came to her senses, she saw Deka Blue in front of her, "Hoji…? What am I…?"

"There's a cat-like monster that attacked you. I think it's a Dora Monster." Deka Blue stated, "You're wounded, so stay here."

"No…" Mei shook her head, "I have to do it. It… it used to be my pet. I have to be the one."

"You… what? !" Deka Blue was shocked hearing it, but he decided to be silent, especially when Mei started to let out a small, but sad laughter.

"Funny, isn't it… Everyone started thinking it's a monster… Yet I was adamant on defending it." Mei started speaking, "And now… I was proven wrong right in my face. What am I going to say to them? And what of Geki…?"

"Geki… uh…" Deka Blue, unfamiliar with how the situation went, made a guess, "You don't mean Tyranno Ranger?"

"No, it's how I named that monster while it's in a cat form." Mei continued, "I can't believe it. I fell for it… that monster… my good time with it throughout turns out to be a lie… whatever Lamie planned on it by using me would be the truth…"

"I don't think that's a lie." Deka Blue suddenly defended her, as opposed to riddling her with scolds. It's as if her kindness has rubbed off on him, "If I believed that was a lie, the Teresa incident would end in an even sadder note, with me killing her out of cold blood. I'm not sure how the Dora Monster worked, but… it's worth a try appealing on its good side once more."

"I don't know, Hoji." Mei noted, "Most of the monsters Bandora sent to us were downright evil and irredeemable. Just when one was redeemable, it wasn't a straight-up Dora Monster made by Bandora's forces from scratch…" Indeed, throughout her time as Zyuranger, she fought monsters that weren't inherently evil… but all of them weren't made by Bandora.

"You never know till you try." Deka Blue encouraged as he put her hand in her shoulder, "If it did consider you a dear mistress… then if you can't save it, then you can give it peace before the inevitable."

"The inevitable…" Mei shuddered hearing it. Even Deka Blue could feel her shuddering through his hands, but he held her shoulder tight, encouraging her.

"Don't worry. We're here, behind you."

"Thanks, Hoji…" Mei said, putting a strong face, "I'm going to try after all."

"Good, let's go." Deka Blue nodded and headed back to the site of battle. However, when he looked behind, she wasn't even preparing anything, "Wait, you're not transforming?"

"No. If I want to do this… I have to stay unmorphed." Mei shook her head and explained, "But don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

* * *

"GAH!" Even if the soldiers were wiped out, the Super Sentai had trouble against Lamie, Shibolena, Dora Catsith and Neji Yellow. They were eventually knocked down, although they were struggling hard to get up.

"It seems that even that plan was unnecessary." Shibolena stated as she approached them, "Now is the time for your demise, Super Sentai."

"Wait!" A voice was heard. From there, Mei approached them, with Deka Blue right behind her.

"Mei…" Red Mask uttered, looking at her, as if she's got a plan or something.

"Geki… It's me, Mei. Do you remember?" Mei suddenly spoke.

"Preposterous! You still called Dora Catsith with that? !" Lamie yelled, not believing how naïve Mei could get, "Dora Catsith, tear her limbs!" The cat hissed and lunged to attack. But Mei stayed, not even flinching or even taking fighting position. It caused the monster to freeze.

"Your hand's hurt…" Mei reached out its hand and petted it on its hand, "Is it hurt? It's all right… we can play together and stay together. Everyone is nice… and you know? Despite your fear to Takeru, he's a really nice guy and you can get along well with him."

"Mei… you're saying…!" Mega Yellow was shocked hearing it.

"_That's right_. This monster… she took it as a pet, or so she said." Deka Blue said with the limited knowledge he got.

"No way, so it really is Geki…!" Ninja Black exclaimed, shocked at the revelation.

"That girl looked like she got a death wish or something" Abare Killer also added, annoyed at Mei's naiveté.

"No… I'm not sure how I feel but…" Red Mask defended her, "I'll trust in what she's doing."

In the meantime, Dora Catsith didn't even move as Mei gave it a sweet hug. It's like it remembered most of the fun times it had with Mei. What was once a heartless monster slowly grew a heart, or loyalty to one who considered it master and treated her well. Its eyes started to change color into yellow… "Geki… it's all right, I'm here…"

"Ridiculous, am I going to sit down seeing things like this…!" Neji Yellow was angered with such sweet scene, it's like she was going to puke if she took another human form, "I'll…!"

"Hold up, Neji Yellow." Shibolena said as she barred Neji Yellow's path with her sword, "I understand your sentiment, but I'd rather not have you do a physical contact. I'd rather have the operation executed earlier than expected. Don't worry, such scene will be gone."

"Very well…!" As Neji Yellow said that, she put her hand forward and let out some energy blast to Mei. At that time, suddenly Dora Catsith threw Mei away and covered her.

"Ah…! Geki…!" Mei was horrified looking at it, and it continued. From inside of Dora Catsith, six energy orbs, colored red, blue, pink, black, green and white also gathered alongside the energy blast, going on to Neji Yellow's palm.

"First phase succeeded. Lamie, the rest is yours." Shibolena said as she approached Neji Yellow to operate with those orbs.

And as Dora Catsith got up again, its eyes became red and with one big hiss, it lunged to Mei. "Geki! No!" The Super Sentai reacted and covered Mei one by one, taking damages. "Stop it! Please!"

"Hahaha… no matter how much you beg, it won't stop." Lamie boasted as she approached Mei, "Its so-called 'sanity' has outlived its usefulness. Now it's just a mindless berserker cat."

"Lamie… How can you… How dare you…!" Mei, now angered, got up. Her face was filled with anger on Lamie that she did and planned such horrid thing that it was completely cold.

"What's the matter? Angry?" Lamie taunted, "In that case, time for you to die!" She also attempted slashing her, but she dodged without saying a thing. Her teeth gritted behind her mouth, her fist clenched, she delivered a punch onto Lamie's face, knocking her down. "Grr…!" Lamie got up and tried attacking her once more, but Mei, unmorphed, continued to dodge her attacks and countered her successfully everytime. "Curse you, Mei…! But I guess that's why you…"

"Don't you dare call me your 'rival'." Mei said coldly, "You have no rights to call yourself that. You're nothing but an evil woman."

"Why you…!" Lamie was angered and tried attacking, but at that moment, suddenly Mele appeared in front of her, sneaking from the battle against Dora Catsith. And then she pressed her knee onto Lamie's stomach.

"If that monster want some settlement with its problem, that had better be you finishing it." Mele stated, "Now get on with it!"

"Geki… I…" Mei nearly hesitated in terms of trying to fight the Dora Catsith, her pet, but then she noticed that it's something she's got to do. She eventually nodded and prepared to transform, "**Dino Buckler!**"

Drawing her Ptera Arrow, she looked at how the battle went out. It seemed that the scar on its stomach caused by Deka Blue still remained. She pulled the string on her bow and aimed at it. At that point, a Masky Crash from Red Mask stunned it further and when he looked at her, he knew what she planned to do. "Everyone… Let Mei settle it." He declared and they took some steps back.

'Good bye, Geki… I'll… never forget you…' Ptera Ranger thought as she eventually released her arrow into the monster's stomach and it went through its body and it exploded as it fell.

"Well, that did the trick." Abare Killer stated as he approached Ptera Ranger. In the same time, Mele also took some steps back from Lamie.

"Mei…" Deka Blue said, worried about her.

"I'm… fine." Ptera Ranger assured, even if it pained her. She realized that this wasn't over, "Lamie…! You'll pay for what you did!"

"If the seven of us combine our strength… we're invincible. This time… you won't get away!" Red Mask added, and everyone prepared themselves…

"Get away… from what?" Lamie asked, still unfazed as if she's got another plan ready…

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"Excitement at its finest. Abare Killer!"

"We are… **Super Sentai!**"

"This is your end, Lamie!" Red Mask yelled as the seven of them ran to her. However, she still kept her calm.

"Heheh… it's about time." Lamie noted and all of the sudden, there was an exclamation by Shibolena.

"Phase two complete!" As she said that, Neji Yellow raised her fist to the sky and six more energy balls were sent out to the Super Sentai, all of them were blocked off… and suddenly, the six balls materialized… into six figures.

"What the hell…? !" Mega Yellow was shocked. These six figures did resemble the Nejirangers… possessing the shoulder pads. However, their bodies were mostly black and their heads resemble the very Super Sentai.

"Thank you very much, Super Sentai." Shibolena said, "Your participation and battle against Dora Catsith provided the elements necessary for this team, since inside it were essences for these people to hatch thanks to your DNA. I present you the new Nejirangers."

"Excuse me? !" The red, new figure, suddenly yelled, "Aside of this Yellow one, we're not Nejiranger!"

"Then what shall you be called?" Shibolena asked.

"I think you can call us… Kyoukingers." The red one continued, "A step further above Nejirangers…"

"Kyouki… madness…!" Red Mask noted, "Then you're…"

"Kyouki Red? ! You gotta be kidding me!" The supposedly 'Kyouki Red' yelled, "Tube Red!"

"Alien Blue!" The blue one said as the rest, aside of Neji Yellow, continued to introduce themselves.

"Dora Pink!"

"Youkai Black!"

"Gen Green!" The Gen Green one was surprisingly female… just like Mele.

"Evo White!"

"Kyoufu Sentai… Kyoukinger!"

"W… what kind of name is that?" Ninja Black noted.

"Bah, scums with no taste…" Abare Killer said, taunting them. However, the Kyoukingers weren't even moving an suddenly the Super Sentai felt like they were blasted on the chest, knocking them down, "Wha? !"

"Mock us if you want." Evo White said, "You won't be able to walk if you continue doing that."

"Aah yes. I'll bet you'll look good if you're in that condition!" Dora Pink added.

"Hmph… not too bad…" Neji Yellow commented, recalling her experience with her fellow Nejirangers. At least these Kyoukingers were also near-equal or even more powerful.

"This is only our greeting. You shall fear us…" Tube Red stated and together with Lamie and Shibolena, the Kyoukingers started to vanish, "Fear and cower… as you all die!"

"Tch…!"

* * *

As the team was unmorphed, they discussed what just happened, before they returned to Bonds. "Kyoukingers…" Chisato muttered, "A next generation of Nejirangers… I never thought Long or Shibolena would even do that…"

"This was definitely beyond Long's scope before." Mele added, "But… No way I'm losing to those posers!"

"They made a mockery out of me, so of course they'll pay." Mikoto added.

"But at any rate, we need to be careful…" Mei also added, but then she noticed something on the ground. "Ah! That…!" It's a cat. Lying down like that. She recognized it immediately, "Geki! Are you okay? !" The remnants of Dora Catsith remained as its cat form. Mei immediately picked it up and hugged it. However, something shocked her… it felt cold. But she didn't want to let go either.

Takeru recalled on how 'Geki' never seemed to like him. It constantly bit him. But after that one reveal, he couldn't help but feel bad at it. He slowly approached Mei and tried patting 'Geki' on the head. But at that point, aside the fact that it's not biting him back, he realized the inevitable and muttered it, "It's… it's dead…"

"No… no…!" Mei started to tear up as she just hugged 'Geki' tighter, "No, it's a lie… lies… You… you can't be dead…"

"I don't think he's lying." Hoji added, it was very inevitable after all, "It's dead."

"No… uh… aah…" Hugging at her pet and once again remembering the good but short time it was her pet, Mei's heart broke further as she eventually cried for her dead pet.

* * *

And it was soon that 'Geki' was buried. Everyone looked at its grave and nobody was even saying a thing. Hoji clenched his fist in anger, when he escaped ending a case in a sad note with Teresa, now the tragedy that befell on Mei was not prevented. Not even Mele and Mikoto said a word.

"Uhm…" Jiraiya muttered, "You know… for one thing, that cat looked really peaceful…"

"Wha?" Chisato asked, as she didn't quite understand what Jiraiya meant.

"Just my hunch, but I think if Mei didn't come… Geki wouldn't be at peace right now…" Jiraiya continued, "Perhaps it's the same as Zashiki-Warashi… Probably Geki found peace in death knowing that Mei was the one to put him out of the misery."

"Ah… you know, that's right!" Takeru noted as he eventually stepped in front of Mei. "Mei… cheer up. You think Geki would want to see you like this?"

"Takeru…" Mei, her eyes still heavily wet, but Takeru instead petted her in the head.

"It's all right. You did something good for him. If it wasn't you putting it on its misery, Geki wouldn't have passed in peace." Takeru continued, "Did you remember its face when you found him after the battle?"

"That…" Mei recalled. It was like it's smiling after all. "I don't get it…"

"Mei… it was your kindness that saved him from dying miserably." Takeru continued, "You're incredible, your kindness was able to make a formerly heartless monster grow some heart."

"But in the end… Geki is still…" Mei was still saddened hearing it.

"Does it matter? At the very least, you gave it a joy of having a heart." Hoji added, "It wasn't your fault."

"It's okay, Mei. For his sake, let us continue on. I'm sure it's wishing you good luck and want you to be happy…" Takeru continued, "Come now, you should smile for him."

"Um…" Mei thought and realized that Takeru was right, she shouldn't be so down for it. The very least was that she wouldn't have to fall for whatever Long planned through Lamie, for her to be down like this. Wiping out her tears, she eventually tried smiling once more, "Let's go, Takeru. We have much to do."

"Of course!" Takeru nodded and everyone started walking away, to return to Bonds.

'Geki… If you can hear me, I hope you'll be okay… in… whatever cat-heaven you are. I'll never forget you…'

Even if the cat died, it found peace thanks to Mei's kindness to it. She has resolved to keep her heart as strong as possible. However, with Long's new plan with Kyoufu Sentai Kyoukinger, it seems that trouble was really brewing for the Super Sentai. How will they deal with this problem, will it be their downfall? Hang in here! Good luck, Super Sentai!

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in a heaven up in the skies, there was a cat walking on the cloud.

"Huh? What's a cat like you doing here?" There was a man draped in red clothes and white pants approaching the cat, "How unusual. A cat in heaven?" The cat meowed in response and licked him. "Haha! Hey, stop it. It tickles!"

'It's like this cat went through troubles… and to grow a heart? It's a miracle…' The man thought, but then he remembered something, 'Could it be…! She…'

"Let's go in, little guy." The man invited, carrying the cat further to the vast clouds of heaven, "There are friends I'd introduce to you." He walked and walked… also petting the cat.

'We're doing fine here, aside of some weird prophecy given. But no matter how hard the hardships, I know you can endure. We'll be waiting for your return… Mei… After all… you're Zyuranger… like us.'

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: And that's the end of it, Mei got through another heartwrenching adventure, but she still managed to find her resolve. And as stated, Long made up his own Nejiranger Mk. II the Kyoukinger, with member names taken from other evil group names to be evil counterparts of the Super Sentai. However, I doubt they'll last as long as the Nejirangers. How will they handle the Kyoukingers? Well I guess I can say the Super Sentai is gonna get a guest reinforcement for it... Yep, start guessing, unless you saw my blog so you may get a guess on who's going to appear.

Probably it'll be awhile till the next chapter is up, since I gotta finish the series where the guest is from. Stay tuned and send in your review.

And yes, the guy at the very end is really Geki the Tyranno Ranger from Zyuranger, making a small cameo meeting Geki the cat in heaven.


	20. Kunoichi and Redemption

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Well, sorry for taking it a little too long to update! Really big writer's block. But I got over it so this fic ain't dead! This is the beginning of a very similar 3-story-arc with the first team. Enjoy!**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 20: Kunoichi and Redemption  
**

* * *

It was only a short time after the formation of the Kyoukingers. In the enemy's base, Long stepped inside from a portal, along with Lijewel. "Took you quite awhile, Long…" Kiros said, greeting them back. "So? Did you get what you want?"

"Of course…" Long said as he opened the palm of his hand, revealing a pink-like orb to him, "Now we only need one more of this and the Super Sentai no longer stand a chance."

"Hmph…" Kiros felt a little disgusted. He heard of Long's plan, and to be honest, he really didn't like how he's approaching with his plans. 'Those poor girls. They were better off in my embrace.'

"Hey, Master Long…" Lijewel said, "You said you need… 'those', right?"

"Yeah, so?" Long said back.

"Then why don't you do it on Lamie and Shibolena as well?" Lijewel suggested, "They're the same, right…?"

"Well it's not like I consider them a dear friend or sorts, but they have their uses. They're better off alive for the moment…" Long said, and at that moment, Lijewel was quiet. However, what she didn't realize was that Long himself was forming his own twisted smile, 'And of course if you prove to be useless…'

* * *

Meanwhile, amongst the city, a lone woman walked in. She wore black uniform and slightly short pants with some light blue lines as its side motif, as well as possessing shoulder-length hair. 'Man, it's getting quickly lonely…' The girl sighed, trying to remember her friends. 'Yousuke, Kouta… Ikkou… Isshu… and um… who else? I can't seem to remember… Aside of those four, I seem to remember being with someone else… three or four… but who?'

This woman was indeed one of the Super Sentai members, in particular Nono Nanami of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger as Hurricane Blue. It was at that time she was about to do a big concert for her, marking yet another step for her to be a successful idol singer. Even if it was her guise for her duty as a ninja that protected the world, she was truly enjoying her job. But at that time, after one certain quake, she felt like whisked away to another world, unable to contact the other Hurricanegers. However, one thing she knew that in this world, evil lurked and she used to have help from non-Hurricaneger allies, but for some reason, the memory seemed a little blocked.

All of the sudden, the sky darkened, causing the people around her to panic. 'That's…! No, that's not it, but I better check it out!' Nanami, instead of running like the rest, approached a portal that appeared on the sky. To her shock, there was something dropped into the ground, and it hit the ground right in front of Nanami. "This…!" She was shocked looking at who just fell. She recognized this figure… pink hair, purple tight pants, heavy makeups on the face…

Wendinu, Third Spear of the Jakanja.

And she's dead. Bleeding all over. And there's no signs of her life. This woman was dropped down already dead.

"No way… Wendinu…!" Nanami was shocked as she covered her mouth. It was like she was impaled on the stomach with a fist, 'I knew how cruel she could be… but this… even this is too much for her! Who could've done this? !'

There was an explosion that she heard. Knowing that she had to act, she jumped away and tried looking without being detected. And what she saw was the Super Sentai themselves, locked in a losing battle against the Kyoukingers. 'No way…! It's them!' Nanami thought, knowing which one was the real deal and which one was the fake, evil ones. However, her eye suddenly moved towards Abare Killer. 'It's him…!'

* * *

_Shortly after the Hurricanegers defeated the Jakanja, Nanami was on a mission in Spain with Kasumi Isshu, also known as Kuwaga Raiger. They were shortly called back to Japan to assist the other Hurricaneger and Gouraiger, to help against the Evil Ninja Iga. They're assisted with the Bakuryuu Sentai Abarangers. However, Nanami clearly remembered that the Evoliens backing Iga also had one evil Abaranger… the white one, Abare Killer. Although he retreated, the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers left the Abarangers to deal with the Evoliens, without knowing what became of Abare Killer. As far as the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers knew for the moment, Abare Killer was an unrepentant and unabashed evil force._

* * *

'So he's back and manipulating them!' Nanami gritted her teeth, thinking the worst about Abare Killer, 'This is not a good time to interrupt. I think I'll wait until he's alone and I'll make him confess!'

The enemy was quite powerful for the Super Sentai to handle. All thanks to the information fed by the enemies, the Kyoukingers were able to counter every of their moves, and knock them off. Tube Red could counter most of Red Mask's karate skills, Alien Blue shot faster than Deka Blue and was quick to learn not boxing, but a fighting style solely on kicks to counter on his close range skills. Dora Pink shot faster and more accurate than Ptera Ranger. Youkai Black was more skillful and utilizes a much more damaging ninjutsu than Ninja Black, and likewise, Gen Green's using a more fatal Gen-Jyuu Phoenix Ken to trounce on Mele while Evo White had a much more composed fighting style to counter Abare Killer's aggressiveness.

While as usual, Neji Yellow was dominating against Mega Yellow. "Hahaha! Mega Yellow, you and your allies are nothing special after all!" Against the downed Mega Yellow, the former Nejiranger taunted.

'Tch… at this rate perhaps an opponent switch would be…!' Mega Yellow thought, reminding herself on how she fought the Nejirangers in the past. However, Neji Yellow was able to catch on quick on what she did and stomped her on the chest.

"Not going to happen!" Neji Yellow exclaimed, "Your match is mine and mine alone…"

_WHAM_

One thing that she didn't expect was that Ninja Black leapt with a flying kick and hit her on the face. "_Says you!_" He yelled as he took aim with the Black Bow. However, at that point, several steel webs were thrown to his wrists.

"Where you going, Ninja Black?" It was Youkai Black, and he wasn't even speaking with coherent Japanese, "You fight me, mine alone!"

"Grraahh…!" Ninja Black tried struggling, but he ended up being dragged off and being beaten.

"_Damn_." Deka Blue noticed and took aim with his D-Sniper, trying to help Ninja Black, but then in a quick moment, a gunshot was heard and he felt an impact onto his hand. It turned out that Alien Blue shot his hand first.

"So fricking slow!" Alien Blue taunted, "Well, such thing are just natural for a genius like me." He ran towards Deka Blue, while the latter tried to take a defensive form, however, Deka Blue was suddenly met with a kick on the face, knocking him away, before he was being shot further while rolling down on the ground from the impact.

In the same time, Dora Pink has started to overwhelm Ptera Ranger, now already holding her in a slight submission hold, pulling her arm as she was lying down on the ground. "Well, giving up already, hmm?" She taunted, while pulling her arm and twisting it and continuing to stomp her with her feet. "A soft girl like you is no match for a mature, sensual lady like me…"

"Mature…? ! But you were just…" Ptera Ranger was about to protest that she's just born moments ago, but then Dora Pink unleashed a powerful kick right onto her chest area. It hurt so much.

"Shut up, kid. Just lie down there and die… slowly… oh, and scream more. It's sexier that way…" Dora Pink was obviously having a hell of a time while dominating Ptera Ranger. However, the latter tried not to give in to screams, and as such, behind her mask, she was gritting her teeth while enduring the pain.

In the same time, while Evo White still stood there, he was able to detect every movement and where Abare Killer was heading using his super speed, perfectly blocking them. "Bastard…!" Abare Killer grunted when his Wing Pentact clashed with Evo White's hand, now erupting with spikes.

"Not so cocky now, aren't you? I can read all your moves…" Evo White taunted as he suddenly deflected Abare Killer, "Now let's see how you have a taste of your medicine." All of the sudden, he moved in a quick movement.

"Hah! You think I can't even beat down…" Abare Killer boasted, and was confident he knew how to block his attacks… but it was interrupted when he realized that Evo White used a super speed faster than him. And when he tried to adapt, the Kyoukinger instead increased his speed, making him unable to keep up, 'D-damn it!'

In the same time, Gen Green was airborne and continually kicked Mele on a bicycle kick movement, pushing her away. "Ungrateful women like you are doomed to lose, after all." Gen Green taunted as she delivered one final kick to Mele, knocking her to a nearby wall.

"Don't you dare judge me! I'm always loyal to Rio-sama…!" Mele protested as she got up and continued to launch a barrage of punches and kicks, but Gen Green was able to block them.

"Once you're in Gen-Jyuu Ken, you're committed to it. Leaving and discarding it means betrayal. And I kill traitors like you!" The Kyoukinger further terrorized Mele with her words, but she was unfazed.

"You brat, who do you think you are judging me like this? !" Mele retorted, "I'm not taking orders from someone born merely moments ago!" But that was the moment Gen Green took a more serious turn in battle and once again overwhelmed Mele in her attacks.

"Hahaha… Your friends look so helpless." Tube Red, while fighting Red Mask, saw the other Super Sentai being overwhelmed, "Not like you can help them either, because I got my eyes on you, and once I set it…"

"Do you ever stop talking? !" Red Mask tried to shut him up with a fist on the face, but it was perfectly guessed by Tube Red and grabbed his fist.

"I wonder what Tube was doing, beaten by a weakling like you. And I wonder what that Iyal sees in you… nothing but weakness." Tube Red taunted.

"There's more than strength that…" Red Mask's words were cut short when Tube Red twisted his arm and kicked him down.

"There's only strength… that's that. And those who possess it… is victorious." As Tube Red said that, he reached his belt and grabbed a hand gun, his version of the Laser Magnum, and shot down the downed Red Mask.

In the end, the Super Sentai was quickly overwhelmed, as they collapsed together nearby. Tube Red gathered his Kyoukingers and they were preparing to shoot them off… But then they didn't. "Heh. I'm starting to like this helpless look of yours." Tube Red taunted. "Stay that way. Fearful and knowing that you can't beat us. We'll be back to enjoy another game with you."

At that point, the Kyoukingers retreated, leaving the battered Super Sentai. Realizing their defeats, Red Mask slammed his fist to the ground in frustration.

"Damn it!"

* * *

Tending to their wounds in Bonds, the team reviewed their battle prowess with the Kyoukingers. "They knew every of our moves and improved it better." Hoji recalled, "I've never fought such thing like fake Dekarangers before. At this rate, we have to adapt real quick to catch on their style."

"The last time I fought some fake Zyurangers were nothing but imitations used to terrorize the people and made us lose face." Mei added, recalling the incident when Bandora had a Dora Monster framed the Zyurangers for attacking the innocents, "But not like this time. Can we adapt this quick? I mean for Hoji, I'm sure he can. But what about us?"

"It seems that it is the only choice we had so far…" Takeru lamented, sighing, "If we can't learn to adapt quick, we're doomed."

"Tch… Long…" Mele grunted in annoyance. It's not like she didn't want to adapt, but she's getting more annoyed at how Long was getting ahead with the creation of Kyoukingers.

"_Wait_." Jiraiya suddenly said, coming up with an idea, "I think there's an alternative of it. But it… well, depends on luck."

"Depending on luck or whatever, you better say it!" Chisato suggested.

"Well, I just noticed that everyone seems stuck with their counterparts." Jiraiya noted, "So basically…"

"Switch opponents? How many times have we done it before?" Chisato rebuked, "Mind you, if I can switch from Neji Yellow, I'd be glad to. It's like they took levels in persistence."

"That. But there is another way we can get around that." Jiraiya said, eventually coming to the main point, "What if we have help from someone whose style is unfamiliar to them?"

"Unfamiliar style…" Takeru thought hard, until he finally realized what Jiraiya meant, "You mean we could call Sakura?"

"Well, they don't have some counterpart of Boukenger." Hoji nodded and agreed, noticing the pattern of the Kyoukingers, "It's worth a shot."

"That's great! We can contact her!" Mei said, relieved that they may stand a chance.

"Right… right…" Mele said lazily, until she noticed something, "Where the hell is Mikoto?"

"He hasn't been back from his 'trip', I think…" Takeru recalled, noticing that Mikoto asked to go on a personal trip on town. He thought he'd be frustrated or something, and needed to vent. Though he assured that he wouldn't try to get caught.

* * *

Meanwhile, walking down through the streets of the town, Mikoto was indeed frustrated. 'Tch… Beaten by a knockoff like that… What kind of Game can I throw to him to make him pay for this… Urgh…'

Stopping by on a vending machine, he put some coins in it and grabbed a can of soft drink. While thinking, he drank the soft drink inside… until suddenly, he sensed something off, and stopped midway. He realized that something was in front of him on the floor. "Looks like… Shurikens…?"

"Hold it right there!" A woman's voice was heard from above, and when Mikoto looked up, he saw a shadow leaping, trying to kick him. He managed to block, but in process, his can got dropped off, wasting a good portion of the drinks he hadn't drank.

"I wasn't even done drinking!" Mikoto protested, as he looked at the one who attacked him. It turned out to be Nanami, "Huh? You…"

"You. How long are you going to trick those Super Sentai? !" Nanami called out, pointing at him, still thinking he's the evil self she fought in the past, "After unabashedly helping the Evolians for nothing but 'fun', now you want to destroy the Super Sentai from the inside, am I right? !"

"Heh." Mikoto instead smirked, "You just don't get it, do you? Joining them was part of the game that indeed excited me. But… trick? Sorry, girl, but I have other pressing matters for joining them, for crafting that game, merely than just 'trick'."

"I'm putting an end to whatever your schemes are. You won't trick me." Nanami was quick to eventually assume her stance, but rather than a fighting stance, she raised her hand up before putting it above her other hand, and exclaimed, "**Ninpuu, Shinobi Change!**"

As the gust of wind blew and obstructed Mikoto's sight, eventually it was revealed that Nanami has transformed into her alter ego. "Water Nin! Hurricane Blue! Haaas arrived!"

"Ooh, so you really want to fight me, huh?" Mikoto said, still smirking, "Whatever. Aside of some venting on frustration, I still got to make you pay for trashing that drink of mine. **Bakuryuu Change.**"

And as he transformed, Abare Killer was quick to approach Hurricane Blue and struck her with the Wing Pentact several times. Hurricane Blue just took it without blocking, but then it was revealed that it was a ninja log that Abare Killer hit. And suddenly, he pulled his weapon back and blocked Hurricane Blue who was attacking from behind. "I've had the experience fighting you ninjas. You don't…" But rather than pushing her sword further, Hurricane Blue instead slipped away while letting Abare Killer continue to push, causing him to blunder a little. "Wha…!"

"Replacement jutsu aren't the only skills ninja had!" Hurricane Blue said as she switched her Hayatemaru into Gun Mode and shot Abare Killer on the legs, making him kneel.

"Damn…! I guess you've grown since last time we met." Abare Killer said as he struggled to get up. "But this isn't over yet!" He then drew many arrows on the fly using the Wing Pentact and sent them to Hurricane Blue. The attack was quick enough that Hurricane Blue had no time to replace herself with a log. Sensing, a chance, Abare Killer ran once again and now used his fist to pummel Hurricane Blue… until she herself guessed his movement right and blocked it. "What…? !"

"Still and graceful as water… that is one of the basics of Water Nin!" Hurricane Blue said as she launched her own series of punches and kicks, "If you're going to give me a strong wave, not opposing it is the option to defeat it!" Abare Killer was baffled as he blocked and also launched his counter attacks. Was his hyper speed getting useless that even Hurricane Blue said something similar to what Red Mask said to counter him?

'Well at least normal monsters would be stupid enough to not notice…'

"Gotcha!" At one point, however, Hurricane Blue saw an opening. Rather than punching, she instead used a jutsu, "Chou Ninpou: Suiryuuha!" She then shot out a stream of water, which knocked Abare Killer away. "Say your prayers now!" She ran towards Abare Killer, preparing for the finishing blow with her Hayatemaru and took a swing…

Which was suddenly blocked by the just-arriving Ninja Black. "_Hey,_ _Stop._"

"Ah? !" Hurricane Blue was shocked that another Sentai blocked her. But something on Ninja Black's quirk confused her, "Shurikenger, no! He's the villain!"

"Shuriken-who?" Ninja Black asked, in which Hurricane Blue bit her lips from the inside, acknowledging that if it was Shurikenger, the English would be much more broken than what Ninja Black said, good English.

"Never mind. Regardless, move!" Hurricane Blue continued, "Stop protecting that evil warrior!"

"I am not going to let you attack my friend that easily." Ninja Black rebuked, and instead managed to deflect Hurricane Blue away. But then he's nowhere of her sight.

"Ooh, I know. This is ground merging." Hurricane Blue guessed as she prepared her weapon… the Sonic Megaphone. She then guessed a spot and then started yelling on the megaphone, "RISE AND SHINE! WAKEY WAKEY! TIME TO GET UP, SLEEPYHEAD!"

"Gack!" This caught Ninja Black off and he ended up resurfacing and was knocked away with the sonic wave produced by the Sonic Megaphone. "What… kind of ninja weapon is that? !"

"Heh, this is one thing that the Hayate School had!" Hurricane Blue said, slightly boasting her arsenal, "Besides, I've seen Kouta's technique so much your technique became as clear as a day!"

"_Oh yeah?_" Ninja Black beckoned, not really afraid.

"My turn! Chou Ninpou: Suiryuuha!" Once again Hurricane Blue unleashed her jet stream of water. However, in a quick moment, Ninja Black pointed his hand, now equipped with Black Bow and shot Hurricane Blue on the chest, just between her breasts and her shoulders, interrupting her Suiryuuha as Ninja Black easily dodged, "Hey! That was close! What if it hits my…"

"That was not so hard." Ninja Black taunted, "I've seen Saizou's technique so much your technique became as clear as a day."

"What? !" Hurricane Blue was shocked that the ninja used her boast against her. But then when she looked back, she saw Abare Killer just sitting down, putting his chin on his hand, as if watching those two fight.

"… What, commercial break?" Abare Killer asked, "Come on, ninja versus ninja. That's a much better show than what we had before."

"Why you…!" Hurricane Blue said as she was ready to attack Abare Killer again. But at that time, the rest of the Sentai arrived in defense of Mikoto.

"Hey, stop this!" Red Mask yelled. If it was a monster, he'd hit her right on spot. But it's not. "You… you're…"

"Out of my way! You've been tricked by him!" Hurricane Blue insisted, "He's not…"

"Don't say such thing about Mikoto!" Ptera Ranger defended, "He's not the man you used to know!"

"Uh… huh? Sure he hasn't brainwashed you all?" Hurricane Blue asked.

"Oh please. I don't make concoctions that brainwash people." Abare Killer said, citing about some things he'd never make.

"We're not brainwashed." Red Mask said, "I suppose from that from the uniform… you're from the Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger?"

"Yeah. And the last which I saw him is that he sided with the Evolians." Hurricane Blue insisted, "That's why…"

"That's wrong_._" Deka Blue suddenly interrupted, "I'm in the team after Abaranger, the Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger. And last we met, he was our ally along with the Abarangers."

"Huh? How come…" Hurricane Blue was confused.

"Actually…" Deka Blue then took the time to brief Hurricane Blue about Abare Killer's change of heart and eventually his opposition of Evolians and his turn as a force of good, "And that's about it. It seems like a misunderstanding from your side, _baby_."

Hurricane Blue was silent for a bit as she approached Deka Blue. "Um…"

"_What?_" Deka Blue said, but then suddenly Hurricane Blue grabbed his head and tried to pull it off, "Hey! What gives? !"

"Okay, no hiding this time! I know it's you, Shurikenger!" Hurricane Blue said, while still trying to pull Deka Blue's face, "Your broken English is as clear as a day! Now fess up!"

"Who is this Shurikenger anyway?" Mega Yellow said, "Do you seriously think anyone who speaks broken English is called 'Shurikenger'?"

"Geez… jumping off into conclusion like that. Are you an idiot?" Mele asked cockily, "Or don't tell me your team consist of dumbasses like you."

"What? ! We're not…" Hurricane Blue protested, but then it was Ninja Black who broke the fight.

"_Hey, hey._ I think we can discuss this in another place, more peacefully. _Okay_?" He suggested.

"Indeed, we can take this to Bonds. We can also take care of introductions there." Red Mask agreed as he nodded, looking to Hurricane Blue, "… I mean our current base of operations. How about it?"

"Well… fine." Hurricane Blue nodded, as she followed the Super Sentai as they headed to Bonds.

* * *

"Hm? This is interesting news." Long, who was observing how things evolved, "I never thought one of the Hurricanegers would be there."

"Hurricaneger… I think I… Ugh…" Lijewel commented, but then it recalled some memories that was sealed inside her. As far as she remembered, she was with a certain someone when she with the Evoliens fought against the combination of Hurricaneger and Abaranger.

"No, no it's just your imagination." Suddenly Long reassured her, "Why don't you take a rest? I'll have fun with you later." Without much thinking, Lijewel nodded and went off. Long gave out a sigh once she's out of sight.

"You don't want her to remember, do you?" Appearing behind him was Abrellar, noticing Long's sudden reassuring attitude, "That such battle was a key to her past…"

"You catch on very quick." Long nodded, "Indeed. If she would remember that she was alongside Nakadai Mikoto over there…"

"Well this is interesting as well…" While they didn't notice, Gasha Dokuro was also observing, "To think there is something similar to the Kakurangers. Interesting!"

"Ah, yes." Long suddenly nodded, "Perhaps I could use you for something. Don't worry, you also get to fight her if you want."

"Great. I don't discriminate between the genders when it comes to who I slice. So long as they're humans." Gasha Dokuro nodded and agreed, "But… you're not telling them?" He was of course referring to the Kyoukingers.

"Hmph… well you see…" Long's eyes shifted to a sinister one as he began to unravel his plan…

* * *

"Okay let's begin with our introduction." Back in Bonds, Takeru was ready to start the conversation with Nanami. "My name is Takeru, and I'm Red Mask of Hikari Sentai Maskman."

"That's it? What's your surname?" Nanami asked, curious.

"Not everyone needs one. Trust me, you'll see much more surname-less people." Takeru cut that notion short.

"I'm Tomasu Hoji, Deka Blue of Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger. _Nice to meet you._" Hoji introduced himself.

"… Sure you're not Shurikenger in disguise?" Nanami asked again.

"Who is this Shurikenger anyway? Why do you insist I'm him?" Hoji asked, annoyed that he kept getting mistaken as someone else.

"Well, in a nutshell, Shurikenger is an ally of us Hurricanegers." Nanami explained, remembering the ninja with so many faces, worthy as being called 'Ninja of Ninja', since not even ninjas can discern his true face and self, hidden even amongst ninjas, "He's the biggest disguise master I've ever seen… too literal perhaps. He can change his face out of blue. But aside of his disguises, I do know that he has one quirk… constant use of English phrases, and mostly not with the right accent."

"Oh, okay. That explains. But still, you should believe me that I'm me, not Shurikenger." Hoji stated, "And did I really overuse my English so much?"

"Yes, you did." Mei noted, with a slightly sly eye looking at him, "Ah! Right. I'm next… My name is Mei, and I'm Ptera Ranger of Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger…"

'Okay, I guess I shouldn't ask why she had no surname too… But…' Nanami just stared at Mei endlessly.

"Um… what?" Mei asked nervously, until all of the sudden, Nanami hugged her, "Kyaa! What are you doing? !"

"You know, you're so cute…! Like a doll!" Nanami said excitedly, "Sorry, I can't hold it! I really like cute things!"

"T… thanks, but I'm a person, not a thing!" Mei said as she struggled. Though eventually Nanami let go of her grip.

"Ahem, sorry about that. Moved on my excitement." Nanami stated once more as she looked at the next person.

"Jiraiya. Ninja Black of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger." Jiraiya introduced himself.

"So which ninja school you attend to?" Nanami asked, if there's some school branch aside of the ones she knew already, the Hayate and Ikazuchi school.

"Uh… I was taught with my master Gali. No particular school." Jiraiya said, reminding himself to his master whom he defeated and slain in mortal combat. It was a pretty heavy thought so he decided to cut it short, "_It's complicated._"

"C… co… what?" Nanami was puzzled with such choice of words, but she decided to eventually skip it as something trivial. "Never mind." 'I need to polish up my English vocabulary better, I guess…'

"I'm Chisato. Jougasaki Chisato, Mega Yellow of Denji Sentai Megaranger." Chisato said, offering her hand for handshake, "Pleased to meet you."

"Yeah." Nanami shook her hands, 'Whew, I think this one is pretty normal.' Afterwards, she turned her attention to Mele, "And you…"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele."

"Er… Mele, we're not fighting anyone here." Chisato corrected, realizing that Mele was practically reciting her role call.

"Oh shut it. I planned to say that anyway." Mele corrected.

"Nice… getup." Nanami commented, "It's pretty unusual for a hero to dress up like…"

"Oh, that's because she used to be a servant of evil…" Takeru explained shortly, "But she had a change of heart. See? Sometimes there are servants of evil that can be converted to the side of good. Like this guy…" He pointed to Mikoto.

"Really, huh…" Nanami wondered, still unsure, "Maybe you can say why you decided to stick with them?"

"Well for starters, our enemy Long brought back the one I cared about and brainwashed her into his side. Let's just say I don't take it well." Mikoto explained, still mad about how Long took Lijewel from him, "At any rate, the name's Nakadai Mikoto, you know me as Abare Killer. Now… your turn, please."

"Right…" Nanami was silent, she finally saw a reason in Mikoto's stay with the good guys' side, his tone was dead serious, not toying around. But regardless, she still got an introduction waiting, "I'm Nono Nanami, Hurricane Blue of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger. Nice to meet you all!"

"Well, now that we know about it…" Takeru said, approaching Nanami, "Perhaps you can tell us how you got here?"

"Um, how I got here… Hmm…" Nanami tried to recall, "What I can recall is that I was here along with another six people colored like you. It's like another new Sentai team. I can't quite recall the rest of them, though…"

"Perhaps you know a pink-clothed stoic woman?" Hoji suggested, perhaps she knew about Sakura, "Her name is…"

"Oh, yeah! Now that you think of it, now I remember!" Nanami finally recalled, "It's her all right! Though, I think I recall her claiming to have fought with me even before. I don't get it, that was the first time we met." It became clear that this Nanami wasn't the Nanami that Sakura met during the Boukengers' meeting with Aka Red.

"So basically, you've been searching for your allies." Jiraiya noted, "Any luck."

"Well not only I found nothing… I found something really disgusting." Nanami recalled what she recently found… the dead body of Wendinu, "I found a corpse of my enemy Wendinu, tossed from the sky and looks like it's being mutilated or something. God, that was disgusting."

"N… no way…" Mei exclaimed, putting her hands on her mouth, and ended up recalling how Long killed Shizuka in front of her, "Is this Long's doing? Poor her…"

"Your enemy did this? Well I'm not quite sure… that's why…" Nanami said as she turned towards Mikoto, "Did you do this? I may not be sympathizing with Wendinu, but this is too much!"

"I don't mutilate." Mikoto vehemently stated, "I've had too many experiences of surgery and looking at humans' insides. Mutilating is too boring for me, so I don't do that."

"How is it not you? !" Nanami asked further, "The last time I heard of Wendinu was that she ended up in Dino Earth, when you reigned. Don't tell me after all that…"

"I kicked them out of the palace, but I didn't mutilate her." Mikoto stated further, "And I doubt any of the Dino Earth citizens or beasts were dumb enough to consider mutilation for no apparent reason. Long, on the other hand…"

"If you think that this Long was not that extreme… here, I'll tell you something good." Mele stated and eventually she went on explaining the history between Long, her, Rio and the Gekirangers, including his authority and such.

"Oh dear me…" Nanami, at the end of Mele's explanation, was shocked, "This Long sounds like Mikoto, but nothing with the positives you claimed him… and the evilness and manipulation multiplied many times."

"So… do you trust Mikoto for now?" Chisato said and reminded, "If you can't trust Mikoto, then we might not be able to do our plan and the Kyoukingers could destroy us all."

"… Okay, I'll be content with some cease-fire. He still has to prove something to me to gain my complete trust, though." Nanami finally gave in, "So… by Kyoukingers, you meant that evil knockoff team of yours?"

"Yeah. It's like they're programmed to counter all our moves." Hoji explained, "They know how we moved, they know how to counter us, and they locked us to their counterpart so we can't fight those whose style were unfamiliar with us…"

"Still, if they're stuck with the ones they're familiar with, I think if we have someone from completely different team, one that doesn't have their counterpart…" Jiraiya added, looking at Nanami, "We can surprise them and win."

"And that's where I come in." Nanami guessed, "So… how likely will it succeed?"

"We don't know, but we may as well try." Chisato ensured, "So will you help us, Nanami?"

"Heh, just leave it to me then!" Nanami said with a smile, "It'll be nice working with…" And all of the sudden, the alarm rang off. "Huh? ! What? What?" As they noticed, in the monitor, people were panicking as the Kyoukingers were once again wreaking havoc.

"Did you see this, Super Sentai?" Tube Red exclaimed, as if pointing to the screen, "If you do not hurry, then more people will die…"

"Ah! Tube Red-sama!" All of the sudden Gen Green attempted to glomp Tube Red, "That was seriously the best message delivery ever! I lik—" But what she received was a bash to the head by Tube Red.

"Shut up, fool!" And the video ended over there.

"We'll have to do as we planned so far. Let's go…" Hoji rallied the rest to go, however, at that moment, he saw two of his friends freezing, "Takeru? Mele?"

"That… that bastard! And he says he's based on me? ! I don't treat women like that!" Takeru shouted in annoyance, "It's like Kiros gets in that costume! Damn, I'll make sure I kick ass when we meet!"

"That stupid girl… what does he think loyalty is like? ! I'd dump that man if he acts like that! Rio-sama never acted like that!" Mele also shouted in annoyance, "And I lost to her? ! I'll return that pain ten times over!"

"Um… guys, you can vent it later when you meet them…" Mei reprimanded, "Let's get going…"

* * *

And in the same time, once again the Kyoukingers lived up to the meanings of their name… to spread fear and destruction amongst humanity. However, on shooting things, it suddenly hit Neji Yellow about something weird. "That order…"

"Something the matter?" Youkai Black asked after he threw off a civilian to the ground. "This not like…"

"Long just says the order like usual. But… I don't know, it's like I recalled something off." Neji Yellow stated, reminded with the last incident with Dr. Hinelar, in which they were tricked to death. She thought Long might have ulterior motives, but she couldn't deduce how.

"Don't worry about that too much." Alien Blue said as he reloaded his gun, "I think you should learn to have fun while doing this kind of carnage. Like this." Standing in front of him were two young couples, tied to two posts. And on their head were apples, it became apparent that he was attempting to shoot them. "Hmph, why the scared face? I don't miss."

"Please… stop…!" The male half of the couple begged. "J-just let her go. I'll do anything."

"No, take me instead!" The female half begged, "Don't hurt him, please…"

"Tough luck, but for this game, we need two players." Dora Pink stated as she also drew her bow. She then gave a smirk to Alien Blue, "I'm a much better shot than you are."

"I'll prove you wrong, brat." Alien Blue stated cockily.

"So the game can begin now?" Evo White stated, acting like a referee, "All right, on your mark then. In three… two…" But all of the sudden, there was an explosion on both Alien Blue's gun and Dora Pink's bow. As it was revealed, they were interrupted… by none other than Hoji and Mei.

"_Stop right there_." Hoji declared coldly, "You won't get away with this."

In the same time, Mei freed the couple. As the two thanked her, she only pointed somewhere else, "Please move. We'll take care of this."

"Ooh, so now you just come." Alien Blue stated boldly, "You really want some ass-kicking like before?"

"On the contrary…" As soon as that was said, Takeru, Jiraiya, Chisato, Mele and Mikoto arrived to help Hoji and Mei, "Today will be different."

"It doesn't matter." Tube Red, Youkai Black, Neji Yellow, Gen Green and Evo White also gathered to the two, "We've gotten to know your arsenals and how to counter them. You'll never beat us…" The evil team also lined up and stated their calls.

"Tube Red!"

"Alien Blue!"

"Dora Pink!"

"Youkai Black!"

"Neji Yellow!"

"Gen Green!"

"Evo White!"

"Kyoufuu Sentai… Kyoukinger!"

"Wanna see about it?" Takeru challenged, "Come at us."

"Fine! Die…" Tube Red commanded and the Kyoukingers prepared to draw their guns and shoot, but all of the sudden, a certain figure managed to sweep through them and slash them each once. "What? !"

"Too bad… you didn't count on me!" The figure, who quickly stood in front of Takeru and the rest, revealed herself to be Nanami, "So… think you can read my moves? I don't think so."

"What? ! What are you…? !" Tube Red said in shock.

"Ninja… ninja…" Youkai Black tried to search through his database about this certain ninja, but none of the ones in his database, the Kakurangers, matched with Nanami, "No way! Not computing at all! This trouble!"

"Heh heh. I guess this could mean we can have something fairer, huh? I'll make you pay not for the people you made suffer, but for how you try to be a knock off for me in the poorest way possible!" Takeru yelled as he prepared to transform, "Everyone! Let's go!"

"OK!" Everyone lining up, including Nanami, agreed and they also prepared their transformation.

"**Aura Mask!**"

"**Emergency! Dekaranger! Face On!**"

"**Dino Buckler!**"

"**Super Henge! Doron Changer!**"

"**Install! Megaranger!**"

"…"

"**Bakuryuu Change.**"

"**Ninpuu, Shinobi Change!**"

Thus the team changed and for the moment, Hurricane Blue took herself amongst this formation of Super Sentai.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"Excitement at its finest. Abare Killer!"

"The water dances, the waves jump. Water Nin! Hurricane Blue!"

"We are!" The team also finished their calls, "**Super Sentai!**"

"We'll make the first move." Red Mask declared and turned towards Hurricane Blue, "Nanami!"

"OK, here we go!" Hurricane Blue exclaimed as she formed a hand seal in front of her, "Chou Ninpou, Kage no Mai!"

All of the sudden, curtains closed onto the Kyoukingers, enveloping them in darkness. "What this?" Youkai Black was unable to conceive such ninpou thus couldn't come up with a counter, and all of the sudden, the Super Sentai took turns in attacking them in various directions.

"Grr… you!" Once the curtains were removed, the Kyoukingers were knocked to the ground. Tube Red was furious as he got up and commanded the rest, "Lock on them, like usual!" The Kyoukingers quickly rushed and got to their Super Sentai counterparts, once again locking them. However, they were faring against them better.

"So you learn some tricks as well! As I would've expected, Mega Yellow!" Neji Yellow exclaimed.

"It is human to learn from mistakes and become stronger!" Mega Yellow said as she blocked yet another of her evil counterpart's strike, "Since you never seem to get it, I guess that's why you lost, ever since that day I fought with the rest with the Megarangers!"

"Shut up! You're going to die regardless!" Neji Yellow continued her attack as she said so, "I'd so love to change that confidence into fear!"

However, Mega Yellow's confidence never left her. And all of the sudden, there was a slice on Neji Yellow's back. As she turned back, she saw Hurricane Blue waving playfully at her, before jumping away, and when she turned back once more, it was a horizontal chop of Blade Arm from Mega Yellow that awaits her.

And once again, Hurricane Blue interrupted both Ninja Black and Youkai Black by striking at him from behind. At least Youkai Black was able to detect her, but only on the first hit, for the rest, Hurricane Blue was able to hit him many times. "I bet these patterns aren't in your database!"

At that moment, Ninja Black managed to kick Youkai Black high to the sky. He then gave Hurricane Blue a nod and together, they leapt, grabbed Youkai Black and dove down, slamming the Kyoukinger's head to the ground. "_Nice_." Ninja Black complimented.

At that point, Hurricane Blue interrupted many of what was planned to be a one-on-one battle between the Super Sentai and the Kyoukingers, disrupting their plans and eventually forced them into a corner.

"Tch… if it wasn't for that interloper…!" Tube Red lamented.

"You'll terrorize the people no longer." Red Mask declared as he put the Super Sentai Ball out, "Come on, Nanami. Join in."

"That? Oh, sure." Hurricane Blue answered as she prepared to take her position to eventually launch the Super Sentai Ball. However, as the ball was being passed…

* * *

"Is it time…? !" Gasha Dokuro insisted at Long, looking at how the Kyoukingers were losing, "Because of that woman's interference, they end up losing! What the hell? !"

"Actually I kind of expected that." Long stated confidently as he formed several signs with his hand, "It's why I had Abrellar and Shibolena put on this feature when it comes to this situation. If they lose… there's one more thing they can do… Hmmm!" Pushing his hand forward, Long unleashed an energy wave to the Earth, heading towards the site where the Kyoukingers fought.

* * *

"This ends now!" As the Super Sentai Ball was passed, Red Mask was preparing his Masky Blade with Hurricane Blue readying her Hayatemaru.

"Masky Crash!"

"Gekiryuuzan!"

The Super Sentai Ball was launched. But in the same time the wave from Long arrived first and hit on the Kyoukingers.

"GAAH!"

"NOO!"

All Kyoukingers screamed in pain on the wave. Well… excepting the quirky and weird-speaker Youkai Black.

"DO NOT WANT!"

His scream was due to his broken speech pattern. The wave, then combined with the shock of the Super Sentai Ball hitting them was too much as there was an explosion.

"Did we get them?" Deka Blue asked, checking on the explosion from afar. He finally confirmed it, "Guess we did. With this case—" His words were suddenly interrupted as there was a blast headed to his head and hit him. "GAH!"

"Hoji!" Ptera Ranger called and tried to tend to his head, "Are you all right?" When she asked that, she suddenly heard steps. "Oh dear…!" When she looked at the direction, there was another figure stepping forward from the place of the Kyoukingers.

"What is that thing…? !" Mele said in shock, she had never seen such thing before.

"_Oh my God._" An equally surprised Ninja Black added, as he observed the creature that stepped forward. It has a similar body to the usual garb of the Kyoukingers, but its head was one of a horned demon, with an equally scary face to match. Its chest was adorned with the heads of the Kyoukingers.

"How can this… no, it can't be that…!" Red Mask was confused, but then he caught on what's going on. He did saw the energy wave coming to the Kyoukingers, thus forming this monstrosity, "I guess Long prepared this. This isn't over, guys!"

"Heh… right." As Abare Killer nodded, everyone prepared their close-range weapons, the Masky Blade, D-Rod, Ranger Sword, Kakuremaru, Wing Pentact, Hayatemaru and fists for those who didn't have close-range weapons. They charged forward to the new monster.

However, it merely drew the sword and began deflecting most of their attacks and knocking them away. Having the fighting memory of the Kyoukingers in which everyone was programmed to counter the Super Sentai, now these memories were united as one, and one person was able to counter seven warriors.

"No way… it's tougher than I thought…" Hurricane Blue said as she attempted to get up, only to look at the monster gathering black energy to his fist. She was having trouble to get up. But then, it didn't even give time for her to react further and launched it to her.

She knew she couldn't dodge it. But all of the sudden, she felt like being pushed again to the ground and she heard a man's scream. To her shock, she saw Abare Killer being the one who pushed her and took the attack. "Y-you…? ! But why…!"

"Shut… up… GAH!" Abare Killer stated as he started to keel in pain, "I just… did… okay? !"

"Mikoto! You OK? !" Red Mask and the rest approached him. But all of the sudden, Hurricane Blue saw the monster clenching his fist.

"Watch out, guys!" Hurricane Blue warned, and everyone looked at the monster, thinking it would strike.

However… to their surprise, black cloud started to emit from Abare Killer's body. "Wha…? !" As the rest of the Super Sentai except Hurricane Blue were near him, they were engulfed in that black cloud and it was preventing them to get out. As the cloud eventually dissipated… everyone was gone. Hurricane Blue was left alone.

"No way…! Guys…!" Hurricane Blue called out, but there was no response. It was then she realized that if it wasn't for Abare Killer, she'd be the one to suffer that. At that point, she finally noticed that he truly has gone to the side of good. But right now she was alone… "I'm sorry guys… because of me…!" She was lamenting for a moment, but once she saw the monster walking on to her, she realized that she had much to do. "No time to anguish for now… I must fight for their sake…!"

Thus once again, Hurricane Blue stepped forward to attack this new monster. The monster, possessing the skills of the Kyoukingers combined, were able to counter most of Hurricane Blue's attacks without her data being in its data bank. However, she refused to give up.

* * *

"Well, the time is now…" Back in the base, Long suddenly declared. "Gasha Dokuro… remember my instructions, will you?"

"Very well." The skull youkai confirmed and stepped away.

* * *

"AAAAHHH!" Hurricane Blue screamed, though not because she's being attacked fatally, but she was instead using her Sonic Megaphone to the monster. It did budge the monster a little, but it was not very effective. 'Keh… this is the only thing that makes him budge, but only a little… damn it… But I won't give up here. I've gone through worse thing together with the rest of Hurricanegers. This won't stop me…!'

All of the sudden, she heard gunshots and she felt hit from behind. "What…? ! Who's there…? !" As she collapsed, Hurricane Blue looked at her back and saw Gasha Dokuro approaching her.

"Heh! You fought pretty good… ninja." Gasha Dokuro stated, "But your defeat is assured."

"Who're you? I don't think I've seen any of the Jakanja like you." Hurricane Blue asked, but she still kept her guard up.

"I am Gasha Dokuro of the Youkai Corps." Gasha Dokuro said as he moved forward along with the monster, "I, and this True Kyoukinger will be your doom!"

"True… AH!" Even if she learned the monster's name, she ended up having to fight two enemies at once and the pressure was a little bit too much for her. She was knocked around like a rag doll. 'Ugh… I can't win like this. My strength isn't enough, it's like I… wait a minute…'

Eventually, a double slash from Gasha Dokuro and True Kyoukinger knocked her off and reverted her back to her normal, unmorphed form. Rather than going for the finishing blow, however, Gasha Dokuro instead pointed his sword to near her neck. 'He's not killing me this instant?'

"Believe me, I'd so love to rip that head apart from your body. But Long sees further use in you." Gasha Dokuro declared, "We need you alive. But don't worry. Shortly after, you can die."

Nanami tried to be brave and asked, "Where… where is my friends? !"

"Heh, those Super Sentai?" Gasha Dokuro scoffed, "I don't know. They could've been thrown to another location somewhere in this world… or maybe even in another universe where they can't come back!" Nanami was shocked in hearing it, was that why the Kyoukingers were merged? To access that one technique?

"Give it up. You'll never meet them."

"Ugh…" Nanami grunted alone, as she eventually admitted defeat.

* * *

Back at the enemy base, eventually, Gasha Dokuro and the True Kyoukinger returned to Long and the others, bringing Nanami along, now also bound on body, hands and legs in chains and had her mouth also gagged. The first thing they did was to toss her to the ground, forcing her to kneel. "We're back!"

"First of all… a job well done, Gasha Dokuro." Abrellar, who was nearby, congratulated. But then he put his hand forward and sent a swarm of bats to Gasha Dokuro, "But I find your fetish on tying and gagging people up… a little weird."

"Oh shut up, it's a tendency for us Youkai!" Gasha Dokuro protested, "Besides, she's got a weapon that was activated with voice. I'm just trying to be cautious."

"Yeah, whatever. That just proves that you're no different… you kinky skeleton." Kiros added as he approached Nanami, "Speaking of which… wow, this babe is really hot. I could show you a thing or two about men…" At that point, immediately Nanami felt rather disgusted.

'Yuck… This guy is seriously the worst…'

However, at that point, Lijewel approached and suddenly felt something familiar in her. "This woman…? I'm not sure, but where have I…" Nanami also looked at her and felt something was familiar with her.

'Wait… she looks like… uh, I'm not sure if I've seen her, but something's telling me I should…'

"It's just you." Long suddenly interrupted, "Lijewel, go to your room. I've got… small business with this woman."

"Okay…" On Long's command, Lijewel moved away and exited the room, in which Lamie and Shibolena also entered.

"Driving her away like that. I hope you had your reasons, Long." Lamie stated.

"Of course. Some memories are better off not known to her." Long replied, while Shibolena investigated on Nanami.

"Hm… Long… so this is the woman you sought?" Shibolena said, "What's so special about her that you want her alive. I could kill her if you want." As she said that, she pointed her sword on Nanami's neck.

"No, that won't do. Why kill when she can be used to empower the True Kyoukinger further?" Long stated back, in which Nanami backed away a little after learning the true purpose of her capture, "Indeed, we are able to create the Kyoukinger out of the data from the Nejiranger and some elements of the Super Sentai. Seven teams at that. An addition of the eighth team member wouldn't hurt."

"Hmmmng!" 'Who wants to be in your team anyway? !' Nanami blurted out spontaneously. The thought of her being a Kyoukinger… it disgusted her.

"I hope the devices are ready, Shibolena. This is where it counts." Long stated, in which Shibolena nodded, as he looked at Nanami, "Don't worry, my dear girl… it won't be as boring as mere brainwashing. Or something like this…" As he said that, he let out the pink orb he got, in which Nanami could hear screaming from inside, and she recognized it… as Wendinu's screams, "The Third Dark Spear of Jakanja wasn't much of a challenge at all. But it's not like I'm going to kill you."

'This… this is the guy who killed Wendinu…? !' Nanami was shocked at the revelation and all she could give was a death glare as both Kiros and Gasha Dokuro picked her up and dragged her out…

On the other hand Long approached the True Kyoukinger and spoke, "Do not worry. Once she proved worthy, she will be part of you… And then probably our next fun will begin…"

"Take your time to rest." Lamie also stated, "You're going to need time to recharge that Dimension Cloud technique you used to throw the Super Sentai away."

* * *

It looked very bleak on Earth. The Super Sentai vanished out of thin air due to the machination of Long and the new power of Kyoukingers, now merged into a single monstrosity. Their only ally that could help them at that point, Nono Nanami, now was held captive and on her way to be assimilated or something into the Kyoukingers. What would be the fate of the Super Sentai at this point? Good luck… Super Sentai… You'll need it.

However, unknown to the bad guys… in her prison, while Nanami was still kneeling near the wall, bound and gagged, there was a smirk on her mouth covered with gag, and nobody noticed it because it was concealed with a gag.

'Heh… infiltration successful, just as planned. Maybe here I can find some hints about beating that monster… They'll be back, I'm sure. But before they return… gotta do my part! Let's do our best, Nana!'

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: And that's the end of the chapter, and our guest is revealed to be Nanami/Hurricane Blue of Hurricaneger. Even if she's caught, she got her own plan, typical of ninjas and assassins of the old age, let themselves get caught for infiltration. But that's if Long's plan didn't get to her in full throttle yet.

Next chapter will contain a trip to a place of you-know-who and gets a link with the first team. Sorry for the delay for this fic, I'm personally hoping for a concentration on this fic for the moment, especially for this particular arc. Enjoy and send in the review! Thanks!


	21. Another Time, Another Takeru

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Whew! Finally out of the huge writer's block, and the chapter went out shorter than usual. I hope my writing spirit keeps up! Regardless, this is a chapter paralleling the first fic. Enjoy!**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 21: Another Time, Another Takeru  
**

* * *

"_Where… where am I…?" When Red Mask came onto himself, he found himself in a dark dimension, whereas the ground is covered with white gas. He looked around, and there were none of his friends. "Guys? Guys!"_

_It didn't take long enough for him to hear noises. When he turned back, he did saw some Ungler soldiers. "Oh well… I'll just have to keep fighting and find my friends. Come on!" Red Mask eventually took a fighting stance and prepared for the incoming Ungler soldier wave. Fighting bravely against the horde, Red Mask felt like he could go on forever._

_As he would expected, the horde never ended, but he was far from done. It was at that moment he suddenly heard something… a voice of a jolly man. "Well then, I'll be taking your power!"_

"_What?" Red Mask was confused hearing it, but then he heard a blaring trumpet. All of the sudden, he felt like his power as a Maskman taken away, including even his Aura Power. "AAAHH!" Clutching his body in pain, Red Mask was rolling on the ground and the next thing he knew… he's once again Takeru. "What in the world…!" He didn't have time to think about it as the Ungler soldiers continued to attack him._

_As Takeru, he still tried his best to hold on. However, his stamina now not enhanced and more limited, he eventually became rather tired. The horde showed no mercy as eventually they gained upper hand against him and began surrounding him and brutally beating him._

'_No… no…! What is this…! Am I going to die here…? !' Takeru wondered as he was being beaten to the inch of his life… And just then, he finally saw an Ungler soldier trying to stab him with his weapon…_

* * *

"AAAHHH!" Takeru yelled and got into sitting position. When he came into, he realized that he was on a bed. "Just… a dream…" Takeru muttered, sweating all over. Thankfully he could feel that his Aura Power was still inside his body. However, he didn't have time to ponder about it. He heard sword clashes from the outside of his room. "What is going on here?"

Thankfully for Takeru, the bed he was lying on was near the window. But peeking over there, he saw a very peculiar scene… A Pink Sentai warrior fighting against a bunch of soldiers, which were colored yellow and red, seemingly based on coral and sea anemone.

"I won't let you touch him." The pink warrior said, "Prepare, Gedoushuu!" As such, with sword in hand, she started fighting against the horde of enemy she referred as 'Gedoushuu'.

"Gedou… what?" Takeru wondered. He was about to get up and help the warrior, but then the pain on his stomach prevented him to go on further, "Agh, damn wound…" Without a choice, Takeru was left to lie on the bed and hoped he recovered fast enough.

'I wonder where the others are… Hoji… Mei… Jiraiya… Chisato… Mele… Mikoto… Nanami…'

Tired, he closed his eyes, nearly falling to sleep again. But he also wondered about the dream he had, 'My power being stolen like that… what does that mean?'

* * *

When Takeru woke up, it was because a smell of tea. Thankfully, there was no nightmare at all. When he looked around, he saw a woman, a long haired one, sitting next to him and preparing to get him some band aids. "Are you awake?" The woman asked.

"Hm…? !" Takeru recognized the voice that he just heared. It was exactly the Pink warrior that fought against the ones she called 'Gedoushuu'. "You… you're the one who fought those… Gedoushuu?"

"Why, yes. Why do you ask?" The woman asked, "Although to be honest, I don't know how they'd pop up here in Hawaii, of all places."

"Ooh… wait, what? Hawaii…? !" Takeru was shocked hearing it. How did he get thrown off not to Japan, but of all places, Hawaii? But then, he had to make sure of one more thing… "Um, what year is it?" The woman just looked at him weird, asking of a year like that, "I mean, uh, I'm kinda forgetful."

"It's 2010." The woman's answer shocked Takeru. It got him confused about the timeline.

'This is crazy… was it another timeline I'm thrown at? … Wait.' Takeru then noticed the woman. It seemed that he recognized the face a little. 'I think she's one of the Sentai member of the future… she looked familiar…' "What's your name?"

"My name? It's Mako." The woman introduced herself, "Shiraishi Mako."

"Mako…!" Finally it dawned to Takeru. She called her enemy 'Gedoushuu'. Her face was a dead-ringer in something in the History of Super Sentai. She was indeed Shiraishi Mako, Shinken Pink of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. According to the book, she would've been from the latest of the Super Sentai that defended Earth.

'Wait a minute… Didn't Hiroaki say that there's an abnormality? Then… maybe… if that Seven Colors prophecy was to be taken, that means… this is the original world, but in the future…? !'

"I know your name though. You're Takeru, right?" Mako suddenly stated, which surprised him.

"How did you… Oh yeah. Have you seen my friends?" Takeru then asked, "There's six of them. Three guys, three girls…" All of the sudden, Mako was silent. "Mako?"

"I… I'm sorry, Takeru." Mako looked away, "When you say 'six'… perhaps one of them you referred as 'Hoji'?"

"What? How did you know?" Takeru was shocked. Did she meet Hoji before she met him and brought him here? All the while, Mako recalled the past.

"Actually, I met your friends just today. It was morning." Mako stated…

* * *

_When Mako was heading out to a grocery in Hawaii for other breakfast needs, she noticed a strange black portal on the sky. In curiosity, she approached the direction where the portal was there. 'What was that…?' Mako thought._

"_Takeru… Takeru…!"_

'_Takeru…? !' The mere mention of the name made Mako thought if her friend, Shiba Takeru, was there. She approached the place and to her surprise, she didn't find Shiba Takeru, but instead Hoji and the rest just arriving there and they were trying to wake an unconscious Takeru. 'That's not him… well I guess it's not like there's only one person in the world named Takeru.'_

"_No… what if he…" Mei, cradling at Takeru's body, said in a fearful voice._

"_I don't see Nanami either." Jiraiya also looked around, realizing that she's missing, "I hope she does all right…"_

"_What's with this ruckus?" Mikoto suddenly stated as he checked on Takeru's body, "You're overreacting. Takeru is far from dead."_

"_That's good." Chisato sighed in relief, "But where in the world are we?"_

"_Hm? ! Who's there? !" Mele was the first to spot something wrong. All of the sudden, she took a leap and launched a flying kick… towards Mako, "You…! Are you a spy for Long? !" Mele viciously asked as she attacked, all while Mako was defending herself by dodging._

"_L-Long?" Mako was confused with the term, "What are you talking about? Is he part of the Gedoushuu?"_

"_Gedoushuu…? !" The mere mention of such word finally made Hoji realize something, "Mele, stand your ground! That's the wrong person you're attacking!"_

_Grunting, Mele finally stopped her attacks. "All right, you, but we have a lot to talk. Come here a bit." Grabbing the collar in Mako's cloth, she dragged her to get to the team._

"_Mele, you could learn to be softer about this!" Mei, however, reprimanded her, in which Mele just scoffed. As a result, she bowed down to Mako, "I'm sorry about that. Our friend is a little rough, but she means well usually."_

"_I don't mind, really." Mako said, coughing a bit, "I take that your friend over here, named Takeru, needs some help?"_

"_Just a shelter will do." Mikoto replied, "He'll recover just fine if he sleeps."_

"_At any rate… did you say 'Gedoushuu'?" Hoji asked, "You couldn't be… from Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, could you?"_

"_How did you know about the Shinkengers?" Mako asked back, she was baffled that the secret was revealed that quick._

"_Well it's kind of a long story…" Hoji said as he explained the current situation… as well as introducing themselves to Mako and vice versa._

"_I see. It was rather convulted…" Mako nodded once Hoji finished his explanation, "But long story short, you're from various timelines, separated with your teammates and trying to figure out a prophecy."_

"_You… don't believe us?" Mei asked, worried if Mako was getting a little too suspicious with such grand, and possibly unbelievable tale._

"_No, actually I believe in you." Mako said, "You see. I never believed this, but in a beach here in Hawaii, I found some paper in a bottle which got a prophecy about a grand battle, seemingly to involve groups very similar to the Shinkengers, one that would stake on the lives of many people throughout the universe. It's a bit hard to digest, but I can confirm that."_

"_It's good to see you at least understand…" Hoji said in relief. But then, their moment of peace was interrupted when all of the sudden, from the holes to the sewers, the Gedoushuu arrived, with the soldiers led by an Ayakashi, which looked like a goblin and wore a red cape, as well as wearing a necklace of ghastly black flowers like Hawaiian dancers, only in style of a Gedoushuu. Most importantly, he had a very long tongue._

"_Huh? ! A Gedoushuu, in Hawaii…? !" Mako said in shock._

"_Hey, that guy look tasty…" The Ayakashi said, pointing at Takeru, "He'd do well as the meal of me, the great Shitakaname!" As he licked his lips, a foul odor started getting to the air._

"_Ugh… it stinks… Like unwashed toilets…" Jiraiya stated, starting to cover his nose._

"_We'd be in trouble if Takeru is unconscious like this." Chisato said as he looked at Mako, "Mako, take him to whatever shelter you know. We'll meet up there."_

"_But… do you know where it is?" Mako asked, though at least she's started to make her move by going near Takeru._

"_Worry later, just go." Mikoto stated, "We'll just hold them off while you run."_

"_I wish I could join you here, but… very well." Mako said as she got Takeru on her shoulder, "Good luck, you guys."_

"_Hey, hold up!" Shitakaname yelled, realizing that Mako was one of his sworn enemies, the Shinkengers, "You're not getting away from me, Shinkenger!" It tried to elongate the tongue, causing a massive stinking odor. However, Mele managed to deliver a chop to it, before it reached Mako._

"_Your stinking tongue isn't going anywhere!" Mele declared, although she was having trouble in smelling the odor of the tongue, 'Damn it, I could use some body-washing when I'm done with this guy…'_

"_Hold them off until Takeru and Mako are safe." Hoji declared as he reached out his SP License, "Change Stand By!"_

"_OK!" Knowing that would be the cue for them to morph, everyone prepared themselves._

"_**Emergency! Dekaranger! Face On!**"_

"_**Dino Buckler!**"_

"_**Super Henge! Doron Changer!**"_

"_**Install! Megaranger!**"_

"…"

"_**Bakuryuu Change.**"_

_And so the Super Sentai waged their battle against the Ayakashi Shitakaname. However, unknown to Mako… even if she managed to escape, the team seemingly fell onto something._

* * *

"When they caught up to me…" Mako stated, summarizing the story so far, "They said that the Ayakashi got your friends on his stomach. I… I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"No, it's not your fault, Mako." Takeru stated, "It's their decision and you did well enough to protect me by bringing me here."

"Thank you for at least understanding." Mako stated. "So, what do you plan to do now?"

"The obvious, of course." Takeru said with confidence, "Beat that monster and free my friends. If you really want to help… I'll happily accept."

"I see." Mako said, until something came to her mind, "That Ayakashi consumed your friends. According to the Shiba clan scroll that I once read, that Ayakashi is known for its huge appetite."

"Yeah… what came from that?" Takeru stated.

"Well, um… It is kind of embarrassing to tell this, but…" Mako said, looking away, "I'm not that good of a cook. Whenever I try to cook, it's like everyone around me were cowering in fear. I wonder if it's that bad, even if I'm trying to improve…"

"You'll improve, I'm sure. As long as you train a lot." Takeru assured her, "Practice makes perfect, you know."

"I know, just that…" Mako tried to sound not very disappointed. Her lack of cooking skills did distress her greatly, but she's willing to let it go for one moment that could prove to be crucial if her prediction Is true, "I think this is one moment that even my lack of cooking skills could prove useful."

"Huh? You don't mean…" Takeru then tried to take a guess, "Force-feeding the monster with your cooking?"

"Well I'm not sure if it's going to work." Mako tried to shy away from the idea, "Just… forget about it, it's probably not going to work."

"No. It's worth a shot." Takeru said, just so she knew how serious he was, he tightly grabbed her arm, "You never know till you try. Just do your best. Sometimes, crazy plans are what is needed to win. Try to cook it, and we'll see!"

"Eh?" Mako was shocked at thinking of what Takeru might be implying, "You don't mean… you're going to eat my cooking?"

"Yeah, we've got to make sure just how bad is it." Takeru assured, but Mako all of the sudden protested.

"No, how can I do that? I'm just endangering your body that way!" Mako said in worry, "Besides, you just recovered from your fatigue. If I give you foods that aren't good…"

"Mako, you'll have to know that I am a martial artist." Takeru assured her, "A martial artist… knows best about their own body. And I tell you, in my life, I've eaten a lot of horrid foods so I know how to handle it. So don't worry about it."

"Um…" Mako gave the idea some thought. True enough, this would not be something she'd do on a whim, but it might be worth a shot if she's trying to make a monster puke something out of her body, "Okay, I'll prepare it. But just in case, you should try taking some medicines too. We have to act quick."

"I know. My friends' lifes are on the line." Takeru confirmed as he nodded with determination, "We have to make this succeed, no matter what."

"Okay." As such, Mako left after she nodded.

* * *

Mako headed to the kitchen, all while thinking if she could make a food so horrible. 'I never did this on purpose… I know, I should just go like usual. But still, I feel bad for Takeru…' Sighing, she started to remember how all the Shinkengers were avoiding her cooking at all, and wondered if one day she'll be able to improve. 'I don't have time for doubts. Our plan hangs on this horrid cooking skill of mine. I'll discard it one day, but… before that, I had one last use for it.'

While she walked to the kitchen, she gazed onto something on a nearby table … a disc. Shortly after she secured Takeru, she received a call from Kusakabe Hikoma informing that there was a Gedoushuu on the loose in Hawaii, and gave her something to help her… the Kyoryuu Disc. She was at first surprised that this item would be sent to her, as if something would happen in the future.

'Jii… are you telling me that I have to use this one day… or is it to be given to Takeru… if we met?'

From Hikoma, Mako also learned on how Shinken Red, Shiba Takeru, was apparently missing during a battle against a Gedoushuu. This worried her greatly. However, she knew she had another duty to do for the moment. Instead, she just picked the disc up and put it in her pocket before returning her walk to the kitchen.

* * *

Shortly after resting awhile, Takeru was finally able to get up from his bed. 'Whew. So glad I can get up from the bed.' He stretched his hand out. A little training wouldn't hurt after so much time lying on the bed. After stretching his hand a bit, he took a sitting position. He was about to meditate…

'I need to calm down. This certainly isn't my world, not even my time. I have to eventually go back. But I need to find out how.' The warnings from Hiroaki as well as his previous dream before their meeting was clear in Takeru's head, which made him want to go back once everything's done here. 'Or else there will be many people dying needlessly because Long went unchecked there…'

However, all of the sudden, his meditation was interrupted with an extremely strong smelling gas from the door. 'What the heck…? !' Takeru was shocked as he pinched his nose and came out of the room, going to where the gas was. He thought it was a fire about to engulf the building…

Only to find out it came from the kitchen which was fine on its own. However, the content was not exactly something that was pleasant to see. Takeru saw Mako cooking in a very wild way, even using her Shinkenmaru to put up various ingredients which might not even match to the pan, and even cut down sloppily.

Takeru slowly and silently fell to the ground with his ass first, as he crawled away, his eyes and face shrouded with fear. 'Suddenly I feel like I want to just run away…' However, one thing that kept him from doing that was that he agreed to the idea, assured Mako that he'd be able to take on whatever she cooked and he wouldn't dare to say he backed down. Like when he visited his little self, his own advice was never to run away from any challenge to be a man.

'Why did I accept that idea in the first place…?'

* * *

And eventually, the time came. Mako was done cooking and some of her food was put on table while the other was separated, for the sake of the monster. "Well, there it is! Please… eat up." Mako offered as Takeru looked at what's in front of him.

A burnt out tofu soup that smelt really horrible. He's sweating all over even from looking at it. "Come on, Takeru. It's for our plan, right? Just one bite will do. Don't worry, I won't be mad."

"O… okay. Chow… time…?" Takeru said slowly as he picked up the spoon… and picked up one tofu along with the soup… and it became obvious. This was an utterly horrible food.

He coughed and gagged, and even had to drink three glasses of water for that one bite. "Are you okay, Takeru? I… didn't overdo it, right?" Mako asked, worried if she hit a new low. While it would be good for the moment, it would mean that her journey to become a good cook would become even farther.

"Well, how do I say it…" Takeru said slowly, "This is… sorry, Mako, but I gotta be blunt…" He's holding his stomach, trying his best to make sure they didn't come out, "This… this is the worst I've ever eaten. But… I think I can take it. Maybe my stomach has become used to it."

"Which means…?" Mako asked curiously as she saw Takeru's eyes becoming bright.

"This is exactly what we need!" He exclaimed with enthusiasm, "Give a bunch of these to that monster and he'll puke everything he's eaten so far! Great job, Mako!"

"Yeah. I hope your friends haven't been fully digested. We had better hurry." Mako said as she prepared to put the rest of the foods, already packed, into a paper bag, "You do ate the medicines I recommended before this, right?"

"Of course." Takeru said in confidence. "Let's go. They're waiting for us." As Mako nodded, they ran off from the room… hurrying so they had a chance to find the monster. Of course, they already know what to do…

* * *

After a big meal, usually Shitakaname would be down and sleeping. Its snore was so loud that it would be heard, and he'd never get up until all of the foods on his stomach were digested. As such, it was lying down right on the spot where he consumed the rest of the Super Sentai. The rest of the Nanashi Renjuu were still around, guarding him.

"Gedoushuu!" There was a call from them, and they looked away… and found Mako standing alone. "We'll finish from where we left off. Come!" The soldiers were agitated with Mako's challenge as they rounded up and ran to her. She pulled out her Shodo Phone and prepared for battle…

"**Ippitsu Soujou!**"

And thus, with the kanji 'Heaven' written with the Shodo Phone, Mako was engulfed with pink Mojikara, which formed into her alter ego… Shinken Pink.

And thus, Shinken Pink began fighting and luring a lot of Nanashi Renjuu, all while Shitakaname were still snoring, fast asleep. However, there were some Nanashi Renjuu that still stuck nearby. 'I think I need more power to attract them.' Shinken Pink thought, but then she remembered something… the Kyoryuu Disc. Perhaps she could use it in order to attract more Nanashi Renjuu, but it was reserved for Shinken Red mostly unless there was a huge emergency.

'Takeru, I'm sorry, but I'm borrowing this for awhile.' Shinken Pink said as she eventually put the Kyoryuu Disc into her Shinkenmaru, and eventually she gained a reddish cape, turning into Hyper Shinken Pink, and her sword replaced by a whip-sword, the Kyoryumaru. With those new powers, she was able to fight even better.

Her efforts paid off. Eventually, the remaining Nanashi Renjuu approached her one by one as they were all falling into the might of the unexpected combination. 'I'm doing my best here, Takeru…! The rest is yours…!'

And meanwhile, when nobody was near the Shitakaname, too occupied in fighting Hyper Shinken Pink, there came Takeru, walking with the bag of the horrid cooking. 'Open wi… wait, your mouth is already wide open with that snoring.' Takeru thought as he put down the bag, his mouth forming a sly smile. Slowly, he put down the boxes of foods… and poured them all into the Ayakashi's mouth…

Once that was done, Takeru took some steps behind and hid behind the bushes. It didn't take long until eventually, Shitakaname woke up. "GAG! GLURRRGH! AAGH!" The Ayakashi was gagging and holding his stomach, the pain was too much for him for the cooking. He then started vomiting to the ground. And from it came not only Deka Blue and the rest, but also many many men that were consumed by the Ayakashi.

"You guys are safe!" Takeru exclaimed as he approached them.

"Oww…" Deka Blue said as he clutched his head, "How could we get beaten like that…"

"Sometimes some misfortunes do happen…" Ninja Black commented as he got up and was helping Mega Yellow to get up. "But we're ready now."

"Yeah. Except this… eww." Mega Yellow stated as she started to smell her own body after being so long inside the monster's stomach, "How many showers do I need to clean this?"

"Deal with it." Abare Killer said nonchalantly, "First of all we're going to deal with him first. It's time for sweet revenge."

At that time, however, Hyper Shinken Pink finished the last of the Nanashi Renjuu, now reverted back to her normal form as Shinken Pink, using her normal fan. "Heaven Fan, Hakuryoku Manten!" With the swing of her fan, she summoned a gust of wind which blew the remaining Nanashi Renjuu away, but also hit the rest of the team. They were holding their ground, but the slimy things in their bodies thanks to being inside Shitakaname's body were blown away by the wind. "Well, looks like you guys are safe."

"Mako! You're okay!" Ptera Ranger greeted her, "Don't worry, I've evacuated the rest." She looked at the still vomiting Shitakaname. "Looks like he's vomiting so hard, I can't help but to use that chance."

"Watch where you're attacking." Mele scolded her, "You want to blew us away? Though… I guess I can thank you for getting rid of those slimy things."

"Who…!" Shitakaname said as he finally finished vomiting, "Who the heck was cooking something that horrid? ! I've had better non-human nourishment back then in Sanzu River!"

"Oh you want to know?" Shinken Pink said, "I did. And good thing it worked. I'm not doing this again though, so I guess I can say you're lucky for an experience once in a lifetime."

"Shinkenger…!" Shitakaname growled in anger, "You'll pay for that dearly!"

"No, on the contrary, you're the one who's going to pay dearly…" Takeru said as he put his fist forward, "For eating my friends and endangering them! **Aura Mask!**" With that he leapt and turned into Red Mask. "Everyone, let's go!"

"What? ! Who the heck are you, some Shinkenger wannabes? !" Shitakaname said in annoyance.

"Not just them…!" Red Mask declared as they prepared to introduce themselves.

"Red Mask!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"Excitement at its finest. Abare Killer!"

"Shinken Pink! Shiraishi Mako."

"We are…!" Even Shinken Pink took part on the call, "**Super Sentai!**"

"Huh? How did you know that was what we're going to say, Mako?" Red Mask suddenly asked.

"Oh, let's just say I've had my experience with this kind of thing." Shinken Pink stated, reminded with her encounter with the previous Super Sentai teaming up together to fight a common foe, along with the Engine Sentai Go-onger.

"Damn you… get them…!" Shitakaname commanded the Nanashi Renjuu to strike, thus they ran forward, attacking the Super Sentai altogether.

However, when everyone else's attention was drawn to the battle, Shitakaname was backing away, holding his stomach in pain. "Damn it…! My stomach can't take it anymore…! I'm gonna have to retreat…!" Using a nearby hole, the monster returned to the Sanzu River, waiting for his chance to strike again.

"Wait!" Red Mask yelled out, but he was too late to prevent the monster to escape. "I guess it was too effective…"

"Too effective? What do you mean?" Ptera Ranger asked as she just tripped one Nanashi Renjuu soldier.

"You know what, I'm going to tell you all everything once it's all over." Red Mask stated.

"We can't let him escape, though!" Deka Blue insisted while he shot down some Nanashi Renjuu, "We have to…!"

"Don't worry, next time I'll take care of him." Shinken Pink stated as she also cut down a soldier, "Our objective is cleared."

"Objective?" Ninja Black asked.

"Getting you all to safety." Red Mask answered as eventually, he saw a last batch of Nanashi Renjuu charging at him. "All right, time to wrap this up!" Red Mask said as he prepared his Masky Blade, "Masky Crash!" With a cross slash, he slashed the group of Nanashi Renjuu, which wiped all of them out in one strike.

"All right… that's done with. Now we must focus on finding a way to that world again." Red Mask noted.

"I guess. We've got to get back soon or people will die without us being able to prevent it." Mega Yellow also reaffirmed.

"Look, I know you're in a rush or something, but…" Shinken Pink suggested, "Perhaps you could take a bath first? You can use my house for that."

"Look here, we're in a rush…" Abare Killer tried to protest, but at that moment, Mele interrupted rather excitedly.

"For real? ! That's great! Finally, I'll be rid of this stink!" She said happily, "I mean, if I'm this stinky, Rio-sama won't even get near me!"

"Right… I guess that could work…" Red Mask sighed. He knew they needed to hurry, but he guessed that such time out wouldn't hurt at all.

* * *

They managed to take their bath quickly and once they get out, they look really fresh. However, when they just get out of Mako's home, suddenly Takeru felt like he was not heading out. "Takeru?" Chisato asked, seeing Takeru approach a crack on a wall.

And all of the sudden, he slammed his fist there, destroying it. "What the hell, Takeru? !" Hoji yelled, "Do you know what you just did? ! You can't just ruin other people's house like that!"

"… Huh?" Takeru all of the sudden acted as if he was on a daze, "What did I just do?"

"Smashed through a wall on my home." Mako answered, but then she saw something from the inside of the wall that was punched by Takeru, "Huh? What is this?" She saw something shining.

"This…" Takeru picked it up. It looked like a broken amulet. 'Wait… could it be? This is… the key to face Rufecil eventually? How come it's here?'

"_Hey_, Takeru." Jiraiya called, bringing him back to his senses, "_You okay?_"

"Oh, I'm fine, really." Takeru said, but then Chisato grabbed the amulet he's holding.

"Hey, guys… remember about what Hiroaki said?" Chisato asked, "Since Takeru seemed like he's not himself when he discovered this… you think this could be part of what Hiroaki said?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mele asked since she wasn't present when the team was gathered by Hiroaki.

"Well, they say the key to eventually reach Rufecil can only be found by Takeru." Chisato stated, "And it can only be activated by all of us together… Maybe…"

"What are you all talking about?" Mako, who has never known about any Hiroaki, then asked.

"Yeah, actually that's what I'm thinking too." Takeru added, but before he could speak more, he realized that they had to find the way back home, "Come on, we got no time. If we don't hurry, we may not find the rest, this looks… incomplete."

"About Hiroaki… well…" Thus along the way, Mei had to explain everything to Mako. Thankfully, she's quite understanding about it and took all the explanation well.

* * *

The team eventually arrived to the place where they arrived in this world. To his surprise, there was a portal there, located at the air. "That's where we came in?" Takeru asked, "Looks… impossible to jump over."

"Not a problem if we transform." Jiraiya stated, and from there, everyone agreed that they had to transform, "But it seems that only one can enter at a time." However, at that point, suddenly they saw something shocking… the portal was closing slowly.

"_Oh My God._" Hoji muttered, "It's closing. At this rate, some of us will get left behind…"

At that point, however, they heard brush strokes behind them. When they looked behind, Mako was writing with her Shodo Phone, writing the kanji 'Open', and sent it to the portal, thereby stopping it to close. However, this required her to concentrate and stay. "Don't worry, I'll stay."

"Mako…! But…!" Mei said in worry, "But you've done a lot for us! We can't just…!"

"I know, but you've got your duties over here. I still have to protect this world." Mako stated further, "Hurry!"

"I guess we have no choice. Mako… thank you for everything." Takeru eventually said as he put his hand on her shoulders, "One day, you'll be a fine cook."

"Thank you, Takeru. Though, if I may ask a favor…" Mako said, "If in that world… you met my Takeru… Shiba Takeru… give him my regards… He may be there…" At that point, she was just guessing. But, she just have to try.

"I will, I promise." Takeru nodded as he eventually let go. He then looked at her friends and nodded too. In return, they nodded and prepared to transform.

"**Aura Mask! Red Mask!**"

"**Emergency! Dekaranger! Face On!**"

"**Dino Buckler!**"

"**Super Henge! Doron Changer!**"

"**Install! Megaranger!**"

"…"

"**Bakuryuu Change.**"

Once they transformed, they all gave a nod to Mako, and eventually one by one, they jumped away, entering the portal. Once everyone has entered the portal… Mako released her concentration and the portal closed for good. 'Good luck, everyone…' Mako thought, bidding them farewell. Holding that long with her Mojikara eventually costed her her stamina as she eventually fell to her knees and eventually collapsed to the ground, before eventually losing her consciousness.

Shitakaname was not heard in Hawaii again. He resurfaced later in Japan. However, the rest of the Shinkengers were there to stop him and his second life.

* * *

However, when Mako woke up, she found herself in a dark dimension. "W… where…" Mako muttered, but to her shock, her hands were chained and stretched slightly upwards, she's bound to two nearby pillars. And so were her ankles. "What is this…? !" Fear started to engulf Mako as she struggled to break free with no avail.

"Shiraishi Mako… you shall serve me." A voice boomed somewhere, which shocked Mako.

"Who's there? ! Show yourself!"

"If you do not serve me…" All of the sudden, a shade of a silver armor and black cape was seen. It was carrying two hourglasses, "Then you are leaving these two to die."

Mako was about to refuse the offer, but all of the sudden, she heard screams of pain. What shocked her was that she recognized the voice.

"Father… Mother…!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Red Mask and the rest were able to return to the bizarre world safely. They arrived right back at the place where they fought the Kyoukingers. "Back at square one, I guess." Abare Killer noted.

"Not really. It may be accident, but we could achieve this." Red Mask said, holding the amulet. "With this, we're closer to our original goal to restore the world and defeat Rufecil."

"Well, well! Welcome back." There was a patronizing voice coming out and when they looked behind, they saw Long and the True Kyoukinger, standing before them. "I thought being sent there would leave you dead, but this is also a decent source of entertainment."

"Long!" Mele growled at him, "You bastard, what the hell are you planning? !"

"What did you do to Nanami? !" Realizing that their newest ally Nanami weren't around, Ptera Ranger asked as well, "If something happened to her, then…!"

"Regardless of whatever happened to that Nanami…" Mega Yellow added, "I'll never forgive you!"

"Now now… you want your friend? Hmmm…" Long mockingly put his hand on a thinking stance. And all of a sudden, there was a shadow from above her, someone tried to slash the whole team. Ninja Black managed to block the assailant with his Kakuremaru, but then he was shocked… the assailant was like the Kyoukinger… only light blue colored. "What…? ! This… this can't be…"

"Indeed." Long said as eventually this new 'Kyoukinger' took a leap and landed near the True Kyoukinger, "This is a new addition of the Kyoukingers… Sapphire Kanja!"

"Sapphire… Kanja? Kanja…" Deka Blue tried to deduce something, "That's like the Hurricaneger's enemy Jakanja, only missing one syllable… wait that means, this is Nanami? !"

"Heh heh… indeed." Long said, grinning madly, "Your friend here… she has been converted into a Kyoukinger. For now she fights you. But one day… Just like the rest of the Kyoukingers, she will be absorbed into the True Kyoukinger, making it more powerful."

"What? ! No!" Ptera Ranger exclaimed as she became increasingly worried, "Nanami, wake up! Don't let Long do this to you! You're not Sapphire Kanja, you're Hurricane Blue!" However, Sapphire Kanja stayed silent.

"It's useless, my girl." Long waved his finger mockingly, "She can never hear you…"

"You bastard!" Red Mask angrily shouted as he ran forward with his God Hand ready. He was about to punch Long, who still had a cocky smirk on his face. All of the sudden, however, a pink steel beam flew out of nowhere and wrapped Red Mask's body, immobilizing him. "What? ! This… No…!" Red Mask was in utter shock looking at what bound him, as all of the sudden, he was dragged away.

"Hmph…" There was an angry grunt that he heard and the next thing that Red Mask knew was a palm strike hitting his stomach, and eventually knocking him away, unwrapped from the ribbon.

"Takeru!" As the rest of the team approached him, Mega Yellow called his name in worry.

"More of your pawns, Long…? !" Mele exclaimed, but when she looked at the culprit, even she was shocked. The culprit is someone similar to Red Mask, only pink colored. This figure calmly walked near Long.

"Hm…? !" Even Abare Killer was shocked seeing someone similar to Red Mask standing next to Long, "Lemme guess… you brainwashed another Maskman, like you did to Lijewel?"

"W… why…" Red Mask said weakly as he tried to get up, and uttered the figure's name.

"Momoko…!"

It seemed that Long has also coaxed one of the Maskman, Momoko, also known as Pink Mask. Why would she be in Long's servitude? A new battle curtain is about to rise, a battle about betrayal and friendship. Can they survive and find out ways to save both Momoko and Nanami? Good luck and fight, our Super Sentai!

* * *

**To be continued…**

* * *

Author's note: And there you have it! The link explaining how Mako was in the first team's world and in Radiguet's servitude at first. And in this side, similar thing happened to Momoko, and she also became an enemy. However, you don't need to worry, I'm planning for a different reasoning than "My family's being held hostage" for Momoko, in fact, it could be more brutal.

And on the other hand, did Nanami's attempt to sneak just failed and she's brainwashed? Well, you never know. But regardless, I hope you await the next chapter! I'm not dead yet! Mark my words! Comment and review, bring it on!

And yes, the first dream was Takeru dreaming his power being drained away by Basco... something like that.


	22. I'm Sorry

**Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another**

**Author's note: **Wow, I'm sorry for this very late delay. A little stamped with how the real life work goes. Regardless I kinda hope you enjoy the conclusion of the arc now.

* * *

**CHAPTER 22: I'm Sorry  
**

* * *

"Momoko…!" Red Mask uttered in shock as he saw his former ally Pink Mask, now taking sides with Long.

"Similar costume… that a fellow Maskman?" Deka Blue tried to confirm, but with the way Red Mask reacted, he knew the answer was yes, "You bastard, what did you do to her?"

"Just fulfilling her wish to vent some frustration." Long said nonchalantly, smiling as he looked at Pink Mask, "Isn't that right?"

"_Shut up!_" Ninja Black shouted, "That's just your excuse to say…"

"He's right." All of the sudden, Pink Mask spoke as she stepped forward, "Takeru… you will know pain for your abandonment."

"Abandon? What?" Red Mask was shocked utterly at Pink Mask's declaration. This didn't sound like someone who was brainwashed into a mindless puppet.

"You left me and the rest of the Maskman, only to hang for these… unknown people. You didn't consider us at all…" The more Pink Mask spoke, the more Red Mask was reminded with their last moments together and how he left her, "I take it that you prefer them over us… leaving the rest of us to… die."

"W… what? !" Red Mask was utterly shocked. Did he just let the rest of the Maskman die with his absence… was it the meaning of the dream he had before? The power of Maskman… gone forever with the team mostly dead.

"Haruka… Akira… Kenta… I will avenge you all!" With that, Pink Mask dashed forward, trying to attack Red Mask. "Masky Ribbon!" Brandishing her ribbon, she tried whipping Red Mask, who was utterly shocked with the reveal. However, someone interrupted her whipping… Ptera Ranger managed to obstruct the ribbon's lash with her Ptera Arrow, resulting her weapon being wrapped with the ribbon.

"No, you're wrong!" Ptera Ranger called out, "Are you Momoko? Takeru used to speak a lot about you! He missed you so much, he'd never abandon you!"

"Silence!" Pink Mask tried to pull her ribbon away, but Ptera Ranger insisted on holding her in place. However, at that moment, she was knocked away with a flying kick by Sapphire Kanja. "Missed me, huh? Too late for that!" With that, Pink Mask once again ran towards Red Mask.

"Listen to Mei, for a change!" Mega Yellow attempted to block Pink Mask's charge, but once again Sapphire Kanja attacked her, keeping her occupied. True Kyoukinger soon jumped into the battlefield and held off the rest of the Super Sentai, leaving Pink Mask able to attack Red Mask.

And Red Mask was unable to lift even a finger against Pink Mask. Not only because he wouldn't even try fighting his friend like this, but also because he was utterly shocked with the revelation. Abare Killer noticed the doubts in him, but then he couldn't say a thing or two, since True Kyoukinger was attacking him.

In the same time, Long was just sitting there, watching in amusement on how his team was rampaging. "Heh heh… this is certainly a nice amusement, though I wish Red Mask would put up more fights…"

'Long… so you only watch while others do your dirty work' Mele thought, disgusted at how Long did his work. On the chance that she was not on Sapphire Kanja and True Kyoukinger's attention, she leapt towards Long and spread her hands, "Cowards like you should just die! Ringi! Kisshou Kigan!" She launched her purple phoenix flames towards Long, which forced him to dodge for awhile.

"Ooh, so because you combine your Rinki with Genki… the flames are now purple. Interesting." Long commented, "Still, your place isn't here. Gengi: Shoukeieika." Once again tapping into Gen-Jyuu Basilisk-Ken, he sent Mele off to fight the True Kyoukinger and Sapphire Kanja.

All was not well on the other side, though. Red Mask just kept silent as Pink Mask continued to beat him like a rag doll. "You left all your friends behind to die like that!" Pink Mask continued to scream and accuse as she struck Red Mask's body with punches and kicks after punches and kicks, "How dare you… How dare you…!"

Red Mask, despite not fighting back, still did his best to get up. Perhaps he was letting Pink Mask hit him all the time as a certain punishment. "This is for Commander Sugata!" As Pink Mask continued to strike, she started calling out names, punctuated for each strikes, "And this is for Kenta! And this is for Akira! And this is for Haruka! And this is for Princess Iyal! And this… is for me!"

"This is bad. At this rate, Takeru will not make it!" Deka Blue, witnessing the brutality, but knowing that probably something was engineered by Long that he couldn't bring himself to accuse and hate Pink Mask for what she did, stated, "We'll have to retreat for the moment, we'll handle our solution between Nanami and Momoko later! Jiraiya, commence the retreat plan!"

"Got it!" Ninja Black understood. This was something they taught to themselves in case they couldn't just freely retreat with just gathering. He threw a smoke bomb to another place. And as smoke shrouded the place, everyone ran there.

Just to be sure, Deka Blue ran towards both Red Mask and Pink Mask… and shot the latter on the knee with his D-Sniper while running. When Pink Mask knelt down in pain, Deka Blue used that to pick up Red Mask on his shoulder. "Sorry." Deka Blue muttered before he ran towards the smokes.

"Wait!" Pink Mask yelled as she also entered the smokes once she fixed her knee. But they're gone. "Gone… and he hasn't paid for that."

"Worry not, their time will come soon." Long assured. "Now, let us be off."

* * *

Back in the base, everyone was coping up for what happened. Mei and Chisato were bandaging on Takeru's horribly beaten body, while Hoji, Jiraiya and Mele were discussing the current things. "Poor Takeru…" Jiraiya muttered, looking at Takeru who's completely down mentally. He looked as if the life in his eye was gone.

"Momoko… I… I'm sorry…" It was all he could mutter.

"Takeru, things aren't just as seen… I'm sure your friends aren't dead…" Mei tried to cheer him up.

"Of course it's obvious!" Mele interjected, "Long is probably using some sort of technique to modify his mind. Is your faith in your friends that low? ! Disgusting… You're even worse than those Geki Jyuu-Ken losers." As she spoke further, it became clear that her voice contained quite the disgust.

"But I still left her behind… and all those… could've happened…" Takeru said, "I'm not even sure what to do anymore… It's like I spelled the end of Maskman…"

"Takeru, have faith…" Chisato also added in to the cheering, "We'll meet them again, I'm sure."

"Even if I meet them, what can I say? They probably won't…" Takeru was about to say something, but then Hoji was already in front of him.

"_Get up._" Hoji said, even in broken English, his voice also contained disgust.

"Wha…" Takeru weakly replied, but all he got was a punch on the face from Hoji.

"What the hell are you doing, moping up like this? ! Stop being pathetic like this, you're our senior!" Hoji started scolding, shocking everyone, "Ban may be an idiot, but he NEVER went this low! Are you this much of a quitter? !"

"H… Hoji…" Takeru muttered as he rubbed his cheek.

"At least you managed to set me straight back then when I proved to be too much of a uptight jerk towards Mei, where is that Takeru who's ready to straighten his astray teammates? !" Hoji continued to scold him, "All I'm seeing is just a pathetic whiner who believes on rumors and only takes things on face value!"

"But I…" Takeru continued, "Momoko…"

"Yes, I know she's your friend… but do you seriously believe that she could fall like that? !" Hoji continued, "That just shows you don't trust her at all! You don't trust her spirit of justice! The one together with you for a whole year!"

"Faith… justice…" Slowly, Takeru was able to digest what Hoji said to him. He's been with Momoko for about a year and more. It should be impossible for her to finally snap like that. And her statement about everyone dying… it seemed a little off to believe that without proof. Memories of him fighting alongside Momoko once again passed to his mind and he realized, even if at first his relationship were mostly platonic at best, if he wanted to improve it for better, now should be a good time, rather than just running off.

"A leader compromises the spirit of the team. If they're down, so is the whole team." Jiraiya this time also jumped in and stated, "Takeru… think of what happens if you keep going down like this."

Afterwards, Takeru was reminded… the instructions given by Hiroaki, how he managed to discover that one amulet still in his hand. Right now, he could quit, but he's already holding the responsibility as a team leader of this new team. He shouldn't run away.

"I… I got it." Takeru nodded as he got up, "Perhaps it is a sad fate that I have to fight against Momoko and eventually pay for my sins against my team… but I will not back down. I will shoulder the burden and fulfill my responsibility to you."

"Takeru…" Chisato muttered, noticing that at least Takeru has regained his spirit.

"Thanks…" Takeru then noted to Hoji, "I… kinda needed that punch."

"_Don't mind._" Hoji answered, reminded once again with the moment he went utterly down after breaking his perfect record and had his friend lift his spirit up again, "It's just that… your situation reminds me of myself back then. It's unsightly, so I had to straight that up."

"That means, I guess you're prepared for the worst. To fight against your friend…" Mei muttered sadly. No matter how he regained his spirit, fighting against a friend would still be a hard decision, "Takeru… will you be okay?"

"I will be okay… I have to go on… for my deceased friends…" Takeru said as he smiled.

"And that's why you're an idiot." All of the sudden, a voice was heard, and Mikoto entered the room they're in, "If someone's dead, I would've seen them in the realm of the dead."

"Mikoto…!" Chisato called, but then she finally understood what he was trying to say, "Oh yeah…! Mikoto and Mele were former resident of the realm of the dead, right! So if your friend died…"

"Nope. I don't see them there." Mele answered, "See that? Long was just toying with you, you're just stupid to digest that in your face immediately."

"No way… How did I fall for that?" Takeru was shocked at the revelation. An argument against his friends' status were finally brought to light… and it served nothing but to anger him further against Long, "How dare you, Long…!"

"Besides, there's someone who sent me this." Mikoto said as he handed down a piece of paper, "It remains anonymous too."

"Hmm…" Takeru grabbed the letter and immediately started reading, but the more he reads, the more his fist started to shake. "This… this is unforgivable…!"

"Takeru…!" Hoji was this time surprised. This is probably one of the angriest face he's ever seen on Takeru, "The letter…"

"It says Momoko was… assaulted mentally into believing all those…!" Takeru said, trying to keep his anger, "That Long…! This… this goes beyond evil…! I will stop and destroy him, even at cost of my life!"

"Heh…" Mikoto smirked. Despite that, now he felt a certain kinship to Takeru. Both saw their friends utterly manipulated by Long like a doll, and they're suffering for it, "Seems like a plausible thing he'd do, even from what little I saw. He's actually far worse, right, sexy?" He then looked at Mele as he said that.

"Yeah…" Mele nodded, until she realized that it was yet another Mikoto teasing, "Hey! I told you not to call me that!"

"Though… if you could get that letter like that, something bothers me." Chisato suddenly brought up, "Who could knew such secret?"

"Perhaps there's a mutiny amongst the group?" Jiraiya suggested.

"That's possible." Mei noted, remembering that when she was captured, she saw that the other villains weren't exactly happy with Long, "But I wonder what that was…"

Even if Takeru regained his spirit, the team was left with no clues to move on, thus they had no choice but to strengthen their body, mind and spirit for their upcoming battle… However, one thing bugged Mikoto. That letter… he realized that it was stuck in his cloth while he was tending to his own wounds while fighting the Sapphire Kanja, and he clearly remembered being punched on the rib by her. 'Maybe that letter…'

* * *

"Not bad at all." Back in the enemy base, Lamie complimented on how Long was able to screw the minds of the Super Sentai. "If you constantly do things like this, perhaps I could acknowledge you as a leader…"

"Hmph…" Long smirked, and such thing casted further doubt on Lamie, "Perhaps it would be better if you come to that sense with your own mind. Otherwise…" Long then pointed to Momoko who just lied back to the wall, with her arms crossed, not minding the two, "I can make you bend to my will by force… just like I did to her. Understand?"

'I… take that back.' Lamie started to regret her statement, 'I don't think I'll ever recognize this freak as a leader.'

At the same time, Shibolena entered the room where they were at, "So, what now? The tuning up of Kyoukinger is going fine."

"Very good. It'll be soon until it's ready to absorb Sapphire Kanja." Long stated, "But still… with her acting so stoic like that, this could be taking longer than expected."

"Indeed…" Shibolena noted, until she realized something while looking at Long. His face was grinning, perhaps thinking of some form of entertainment. If she guessed it right, "Look, I don't think I mind seeing humans suffering. But… you're not thinking to…"

"Indeed. I feel a little bored." Long stated, "And perhaps, the wailings of those humans can help Kyoukinger's situation more. After all, during our phase of building him, I gave him a present that will let him evolve further with the sufferings of humanity. Let's test it out."

"Where's Lijewel, though?" Lamie suddenly stated, "Been awhile since I saw her. Or was she enjoying too much time with Kiros?"

"Probably." Long said lowly, but somehow, Shibolena was able to read off something from Long's tone.

'That tone… he could be hiding something. I'll have to look into it myself soon.' She thought.

"Regardless, she's not the one I'm sending for such job." As Long said that, he slowly approached Momoko, "My dear, go down there and entertain me with the screams and wailings of humans. Hurt them good."

And there was silence. No answer.

"Wow, she ignored you big time." All of the sudden, Kiros also arrived to the room, "As expected from one of the Maskman I've fought."

"What does that mean… Thief Knight?" Long sinisterly asked. He could sense that Kiros was mocking him one way or another.

"Probably because she doesn't find you to be her type." Kiros said as he approached Momoko, "She probably thinks I'm higher in type level than you. Either that… or you need more training in terms of brainwashing…" The word was interrupted as a fist from both Long and Momoko flew right onto Kiros' face, knocking him down.

"Know your place, grunt. One thing you do not do… is to belittle my awesome power." Long said threateningly. He then turned back towards Momoko, "Well… now as I was saying…" What Long did not expect was that Momoko quickly grabbed his hand and flipped him off to the ground. "What? !"

"No." Finally Momoko spoke, "You only promised me the means to get my revenge on Takeru, the one who betrayed me. But making people suffer needlessly… that's not part of the deal!" It was true that Momoko had her brain a little jumbled thanks to Long's mind wrecking. However, there was one thing that remained in Momoko despite the mind modification… the sense of justice and the dislike towards the suffering of people.

"I knew your brainwashing skill is to be questioned." Lamie said in annoyance as she pulled off her sword. She lunged and slashed at Momoko, but the brainwashed one dodged sideways, before striking her on the stomach with an elbow thrust and brought her down with a knee strike on the face.

"M… my face…!" Lamie complained as she got up, rubbing her face.

"This insubordination will end here!" Shibolena shouted as she prepared her own sword.

"Insubordination? More like self defense." Momoko countered as she dodged the attacks from Shibolena, but as she was more aware, Momoko found it hard to counter Shibolena's attacks. However, little did she know that there was a golden fog coming to her from behind. When she realized it, it was too late as she was enshrouded with it. "What…? !"

"So it looks like keeping your mind was a huge mistake… Momoko." Long's voice echoed from the fog, "Now… I guess you're better off with none of those… 'minds'."

"No… NO!" Momoko started to clutch her head in pain, Long was entering her mind and continue to wreck it with his power. Even Shibolena backed away, knowing that Long was finally getting his ass to work. "Aaah… aaah…! T… T… Ta… Take…" Those were Momoko's last words before she fell unconscious. Soon after, Long re-materialized and stood next to her, putting his hand onto her head and planted a golden dragon hairpin on her head.

"Well, next time you get up, you'll feel a little different." Long said proudly, "That is, you're free from that plague you called 'your mind', and will be nothing more than a berserker, a pawn for my entertainment." He then approached Kiros as he lifted him up on the hand, "Congratulations, Theif Knight. You get to see a good show courtesy of your former enemy Maskman."

"Well whatever it is, better be good…" Kiros stated as he rubbed his face, the double punch was quite painful. 'I won't forget this humiliation, you little obnoxious brat. You'll pay for this.'

Little do they know that someone was spying on them… Sapphire Kanja.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Bonds, Chisato was feeling a little bored. Thus when she was done with her camera and the computer for the day, she sat on the couch and turned on the television. 'Maybe there's some funny commercial that could make me relax or something… Damn, this is getting hectic.'

"What are you doing?" A voice surprised her just as soon as she grabbed the remote control. It was none other than Hoji, "You really had a lot of free time, do you?"

"Hoji, I need a little break, okay?" Chisato protested, "I know I'm worried about Takeru as well, but thus far I can't come up with something. I have to keep my mind fresh so I can know what to do next! That's why…"

"I didn't say you're not allowed to do this." Hoji corrected, feeling like he's been designated as the token grumpy no-fun man. True enough, he's a little too serious and workaholic, which put him at odds with his former best friend Ban, but he's sure he's tried to loosen up a little, "I could use a little break too. Look, it's a news channel. Maybe there's some particular news that can make us think more freshly."

"Oh… right, sorry about that…" Chisato sighed in relief as she allowed Hoji sit next to her. But then, the news weren't exactly a happy one.

"In today's news, there seems to be a rampage of a certain masked person clad in pink, attacking any people nearby." The news reporter said, showing a picture of people fleeing in terror from… a berserked Pink Mask, "This fellow looked very familiar with the Super Sentai group we've known to be protecting us all the time. I wonder what is happening between this…"

"_Oh my God_." In unison, both Hoji and Chisato said, even Chisato said it in broken English, which shocked her a bit. "I… think we better tell Takeru about this." She muttered.

"Right, of course." Hoji stated as he quickly got up and spoke, "Maybe we haven't come up with a definitive way to solve this, but this requires immediate action…" But suddenly, his voice was cut off as he looked at the door opened and saw someone already standing there and presumably saw the news too, judging from his shocked face, "… Takeru? !"

Takeru was silent. His face contains a lot of emotions rolling. Shock and sadness over Momoko's state, and anger to Long, knowing that this would be his doing. Just shortly after the alarm rang, signifying danger that they need to take care of. "You know what to do." Takeru stated shortly, and before waiting for an answer, he already ran off to head for the teleporter on his own.

"We better go too." Chisato said as she hurried to Hoji, "Something must be done to undo the damage to public though… Since it got to the news."

"_No problem._ I'll take care of that." Hoji answered, "But for now, let's concentrate on helping Takeru."

* * *

In the meantime, Kiros was watching the carnage caused by Pink Mask. The 'brainwashing' given by Long enhanced her strength greatly that she was able to knock down even trees and electricity pole with one blow. 'It's too bad she doesn't find me to be her type.' Kiros thought, as he held his scythe. 'Very well. I'll have some fun myself. Perhaps I'll even win her attention with strength!'

Thus, Kiros started spinning his scythe. Winds started generating around him and caused general havoc within the area. Buildings started to had their glasses broken for a start. 'Whoa, these look powerful. If I can improve this further… then…!'

Unfortunately, his mind was interrupted when an energy ball along with an arrow were shot to his back. "Ow!" As Kiros turned behind, he saw both Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow already approaching him. "Oh, missed me, my sweet…"

"Shut up." Both of them said in unison and as they said that, the rest of the Super Sentai followed behind them… including Red Mask.

"So you even came, Red Mask? Came to stop your… former friend?" Kiros said, as he pointed to Pink Mask, who finally noticed that Red Mask was there and was looking at him, even if her stance was a bit primal.

"Momoko…" Red Mask said, "Perhaps you think I'm your friend's abandoner. But… perhaps with my fist, I can make you remember… that I'm nothing like that. I'm always your friend." Red Mask then looked at Kiros, as if telling him that he'll be sorry if he ever cross path with this personal fight.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Kiros shrugged and let Red Mask pass and approach Pink Mask, "Go ahead and have fun killing your friend. I'm not gonna interfere."

'I'll show you how wrong you are, Kiros.' Red Mask said as he put his hand on Meditation state. It triggered something from Pink Mask… she knew she could do that, but she was unable to do so at this state. When Red Mask was done focusing his Aura Power with it, he took a fighting stance, "Come at me… Momoko…!"

"GRRRAAAHHH!" With a primal roar, Pink Mask lunged towards Red Mask.

"Hi-yaaaahhh!" With a kiai, Red Mask also jumped to strike at Pink Mask. And thus the two Maskmen began their fight.

In the meantime, the rest of the team looked at Kiros. "You want to date?" Deka Blue beckoned, "You've got us…"

"Yeah, sure. We're having a group date, in fact." Kiros still smirked, and as he snapped his finger, both True Kyoukinger and Sapphire Kanja arrived.

"N… Nanami…!" Ninja Black muttered, realizing that for the moment, he didn't know how to wake her up.

"Accepted." Abare Killer said confidently, "And this had better be a fun date!" With that, he made the first move and quickly moved towards Sapphire Kanja. He nearly punched her on the face, and she was preparing her sword to block… but then he turned around and approached Kiros and successfully hit him on the face.

"No fair!" Kiros exclaimed as suddenly Abare Killer lifted him on a choke hold.

"You think 'fair' is in my vocabulary, especially against someone who had their 'fun' with Lijewel…?" Abare Killer threatened.

However at that moment, he was kicked from behind by True Kyoukinger, knocking him down. It drew its sword, trying to slash the knocked down Abare Killer, but then it was kicked from behind by Mele, followed by a shot from the guns of Deka Blue, Ptera Ranger and Mega Yellow.

In the same time, Ninja Black was facing of Sapphire Kanja. 'If I must, I will fight… I can do this.' There was nothing but determination in the eyes of the Kakuranger beneath his mask. It was the same determination he used when he fought his master Gali to death. But this time, his determination was not to kill his opponent, but to wake her up from the nightmare. 'Nanami… Hang on.' "Judgment." With a thumbs down, Ninja Black eventually leapt to strike, while Sapphire Kanja also prepared her stance to fight…

And so each of the groups was fighting their battle. Deka Blue, Ptera Ranger, Mega Yellow and Mele fought against the True Kyoukinger, Abare Killer personally dealt with Kiros, Ninja Black was fending off Sapphire Kanja…

* * *

And of course, there's the battle of the Maskmen… When he put his heart on it, Red Mask was obviously winning. Each of his strikes registered more. 'I knew it. Momoko usually fights with more grace than this. This is making her weaker…!' As he landed another successful punch that knocked her down, Red Mask began to thought. But his mind focused.

"Ah… aah…!" Pink Mask, despite getting up, was getting dizzier, she was having trouble getting up… but not merely because of the punches thrown on her. Something triggered in her mind. The way Red Mask punched her many times, it recalled her a lot of good memories… Training with Takeru, fighting altogether as Maskman… "AAAAHH!" However, as soon as she thought of those happy things, pain started to encroach in her head. She was clutching her head.

"Momoko!" Red Mask finally called out, "Resist it! You're stronger than this!" He continued to encourage. "I… I know I've done a wrong thing, and perhaps you'll never forgive me. But… resist it! The Momoko I knew… is stronger than this!"

"S… shut… up…" Pink Mask still closed her heart, or rather, she was not moved yet. She began to attack further, forcing Red Mask to defend.

"Listen, Momoko. I… I want you to know this…!" He said in the middle of defending himself, "Perhaps you're right. I may have left you behind. And if my friends all died… then I will bear the burden of that sin. But still… even if I've got new friends, in form of Hoji and others… I never once forgot about you! You're still a special friend of mine, and I don't want to lose the last of my friend!"

"Aaah…. Aaahh…!" All of the sudden, Pink Mask's attacks became weaker. And in that time, suddenly she spoke, "… Takeru… pl… please…"

"Momoko? !" Red Mask called, only for her to continue.

"Finish… it…" Those were the words. It was as if she wanted to die by his hands.

"… I'm… sorry, Momoko." Red Mask uttered as his fist clenched. As Pink Mask once again roared and tried to strike him, he unleashed the God Hand onto her stomach, knocking her down… and the force was great enough to de-morph her.

Red Mask approached her limp body as he also de-morphed. His eyes were in the verge of tears. If it turned out that he killed her, he'd never forgive himself. However, just as he slowly closed into her body, something was thrown from behind him. He didn't dodge, but it just crossed him and it was stuck onto something on Momoko's head… a golden dragon hairpin. It was a shuriken as well. "This…!" Finally Takeru noticed that it could be telling something. He took a deep breath, hope finally getting to him. 'Perhaps, if I break this…'

"Haaa!" With a mighty yell, and a focused mind, Takeru delivered a chop, which eventually broke the hairpin in two as several golden fog came out of it. In the same time, Momoko slowly opened her eyes.

"T… Takeru…" Momoko muttered, but what she received was a tight hug from Takeru.

"I'll never let go, Momoko." Takeru said, "Even if the Maskman team members aren't all dead… I still won't let go of my friend."

"Aren't dead…?" Momoko was shocked, "Then what I believed… what I was told… no… what have I done…? !"

"It's okay, Momoko. It's okay." Takeru assured her, "It was just a long nightmare."

"Takeru…!" Tears of remorse fell from Momoko's eyes as she returned the hug. She felt horrible, eating a lie with such ease and having such murderous intent on her friend. "I'm sorry…"

"No… I'm sorry for leaving you like this…"

* * *

"Gah… what kind of ending is that? !" Kiros complained as he fought, but what he received was a double slash from Abare Killer's Wing Pentact.

"Focus on the fight, you dumbass." Abare Killer reprimanded.

"Then this calls in for that!" Kiros stated, "Kill'em all, Kyoukinger! Use that!"

All of the sudden, True Kyoukinger flexed and unleashed a wave of energy that knocked every of the Super Sentai away, as well as de-morphing them. His sword gathered energy from the heads of the Kyoukinger planted on his body. "That's some nasty power gathering. It's going to be a big one."

"And we're reverted back…" Chisato added, "But I refuse to let this be the end…!"

"Hahaha!" Triumphantly, Kiros laughed, and in the same time he also managed to slash Abare Killer sideways, knocking him back a bit. "Now you can feel true fear!"

And all of the sudden, True Kyoukinger was covered with curtains, and a figure appeared and started slashing him from various places. When the curtain opened, there were explosions in the Kyoukinger heads on its body, and the culprit revealed… Sapphire Kanja. "What? !" Kiros said in disbelief, "The hell you're doing? !"

And in the same time, Jiraiya just noticed that Sapphire Kanja was gone from the place he's been fighting. Shocked with the current situation, he used this chance to reunite with his friends. "I never thought it's true that they've got a mutiny…"

"Wait, could it be…" Hoji commented, before he heard a small giggle of relief, "Mei… what are you laughing about?"

"I had hoped this would be true." Mei stated, "And I'm glad it's true…"

"Well, I knew it." Mikoto also added, smirking.

"Well here's the truth, Kiros…" All of the sudden, Sapphire Kanja spoke and threw the whole Sapphire Kanja outfit away… revealing none other than a very sane Nono Nanami, with her usual big smile. "Thanks for the tip! Mission successful!"

"Nanami!" Chisato said as the rest approached her, "You're okay! I thought you're…"

"Brainwashed? I was just pretending! If I was serious, I could've killed you when you all doubted me. But I didn't, so all's well, riiight?" Nanami teased, "Plus, I got some juicy info when I was snooping around."

"Well, tell us, then!" Hoji said.

"Yeah, but first…" Nanami then looked at both Kiros and True Kyoukinger, "We've got some asses to kick."

"Damn you…!" Kiros was angered as he looked at the weakened Kyoukinger, "How did you find out about one of his vulnerable moments…! And you let yourself captured just to…!"

"It's a basic of ninja to pretend getting captured." Jiraiya commented, being a ninja himself, "Then striking back when the enemy thought they're all safe."

"Yeah, and I didn't fail my rope-escape classes too!" Nanami added, "Oh, and one more thing. You hit on me back then? Sorry pal, but you're not my type! Your ugly heart shows more than your apparent 'pretty' face! So… nyah!" To add up the taunt, she even stuck her tongue and pulled her eye, which in turn irritated Kiros further.

"Why you damn woman…!" Kiros said, "I'm going to make you regret that…"

"Yeah. Keep doing that and you'll never get any woman." All of the sudden, he heard Takeru speaking. He was approaching him, along with Momoko.

"Takeru…! And…" Kiros muttered.

"You can tell Long this." Momoko spoke, "I'll never forgive him for tricking me… toying with my emotions… and making me attempt to kill my friend Takeru!"

"Tch…" Kiros sighed, "And it was such a good show too… the ending's horrid, though."

"You thought me fighting to death against Takeru was a good show? ! Thief Knight Kiros, you never change, do you…? !" Momoko angrily said, as he just ridiculed a fatal situation, "Not that I'm forgiving you in the first place… but you'll pay for this dearly!"

"Momoko, let's go." Takeru nodded to Momoko as he saw his friends, "They're trustworthy. Don't worry."

"I know." Momoko nodded, "Friends of Takeru are also my friends."

"Nanami." Takeru also stated, "When we're done, we'll have a lot to talk."

"Yeah, that's how I intended." Nanami answered back, as she nodded.

"Well, what are we waiting for then…" Hoji said as he prepared his SP License. "I'm ready. _Change Standby._"

"Right!" Both Takeru and Momoko nodded and prepared to transform…

"**Aura Mask!**"

"**Emergency! Dekaranger! Face On!**"

"**Dino Buckler!**"

"**Super Henge! Doron Changer!**"

"**Install! Megaranger!**"

"…"

"**Bakuryuu Change.**"

"**Ninpuu, Shinobi Change!**"

And the team, this time a team of eight, transformed and stood together…

"Red Mask!"

"Pink Mask!"

"Hikari Sentai… Maskman!"

"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"

"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"

"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"

"Mega Yellow!"

"I live for the love of Rio-sama, for Rio-sama's love I fight as his _love warrior!_ Rin Jyuu Chameleon-Ken Mistress… Mele!"

"Excitement at its finest. Abare Killer!"

"The water dances, the wave jumps. Water Nin! Hurricane Blue!"

"We are…!" Red Mask exclaimed, and Pink Mask followed just fine, "**Super Sentai!**"

"Why you… you think I came alone? !" As Kiros snapped his finger, various Ungler soldiers appeared on spot. They seem ready to charge.

"Let's…" Red Mask was about to give command, but all of the sudden, Pink Mask already ran forward and as she spun and dodged various soldiers and knocking them out with her arms and legs, she's making a beeline to Kiros. "… go?"

"Yeah. _Come on!_" Ninja Black urged as the rest also rushed forward to charge towards the horde of Ungler soldiers.

"Laser Magnum!" Pink Mask began shooting towards Kiros, in which he managed to dodge while approaching her, but once he got close, she switched her magnum into the sword mode and blocked his sickle strike.

"Not too bad! Reminds me of the old times, Pink Mask!" Kiros commented as their weapons clashed.

"Is it? Well, here's some news." Pink Mask commented as she suddenly spun and swoop Kiros' feet, "I'm much more capable and stronger than before."

"Such confidence! Still, I'm pretty confident…" Kiros said as he got up, "That no man or woman is stronger than me!"

"That's a meaningless boast!" Pink Mask said as she prepared her signature weapon, the Masky Ribbon. She then started spinning it around, as if preparing a defense.

"I'll just blow that away! Crescent Screw!" Kiros stated as he spun his chain sickle and summoned a gust of wind towards Pink Mask. But this time… she stopped in time and jumped sideways, dodging the wind and shooting the ribbon to bind Kiros. And as she dropped to the ground, she tapped the ribbon on the handle, sending explosion to Kiros. "What…? !"

"Heh. That's according to plan… and that too." Pink Mask stated.

"The hell are you talking about…? !" Kiros said angrily.

"You think I just lose all my memories on the times I'm with Long?" Pink Mask stated, "In actuality, I don't. Aside of my horrible feeling of attacking Takeru, I'm pretty much aware of the weakness of Kyoukinger. After he was struck like that, he entered a weakened state that it became easier to beat him up."

"What? !" Kiros said in surprise and as he looked, it was true. True Kyoukinger was being overwhelmed by the Super Sentai, terribly weakened after being struck.

'Yep, and it's all going as I told them!' Hurricane Blue, who coordinated the team about the weakness, thought, 'It'll be over quickly…'

"So, do we go for the big finish now?" Mega Yellow asked Red Mask.

"Yeah, we'll make this short." Red Mask said as he unleashed the Super Sentai Ball and tossed it to… Hurricane Blue. "Go for it, Nanami!"

"Okay, here I go!" Hurricane Blue said as she tossed the Super Sentai Ball and eventually slashed it with her Hayatemaru, heading to Abare Killer, who gave a forward backhand towards Mele, who kicked… onto Ptera Ranger. However, it caught her by surprise and she was quick to swipe it with Ptera Arrow… only for it to fly not to the person she intended.

"Oh no!"

"So that means all of this fighting with me…? !" Kiros stated as he finally realized what's going on.

"Yes. A distraction." Pink Mask said, but then she felt something weird. In reflex, she swung her hand behind, incidentally hitting the Super Sentai Ball headed to her and sending it back to the person Ptera Ranger was aiming for before… Deka Blue. Of course, since she didn't know what's going on, she wasn't as pleasant, "Hey, what gives? ! Playing a ball game in the middle of battle…"

"Well, we… we can explain later, Momoko!" Red Mask quickly assumed as the ball was being passed on from Deka Blue to Ninja Black to Mega Yellow and eventually to him, "OK, the finisher! Masky Crash!" Unleashing his sword, Red Mask finally gave a cross slash to the ball and it went through Kyoukinger, destroying it.

"Whoa…" Even Pink Mask was impressed, "That's certainly no ordinary ball…" However at that moment, Pink Mask felt like her body was light. "Eh?" All of the sudden, she's slammed into the ground and tossed away to the rest. "Aaah!"

"Momoko, you okay?" Red Mask asked as he approached her. However, when everyone looked at the culprit, both Mele and Pink Mask uttered the name of the culprit with anger.

"Long…!"

"Kiros, that was an utterly pathetic show of strength." Long said as he lifted up Kiros to stand of both of his feet, but he did that while choking his neck causing him to cough. "Regardless, so you do know the price of betrayal, am I right?"

"I know I've betrayed Takeru… all thanks to you!" Pink Mask said angrily, "I don't know if fighting you would make up for it, but I will do it."

"To assault one's mind like that…!" Deka Blue said angrily, "Long… that's no different than the worst of crimes… rape. You won't get away with this."

"Crime? Hahaha, you humans are funny." Long laughed, "No matter what I do, crimes won't touch a divine being like me. I am like a God after all."

"No. I'll just say it again." Ptera Ranger added, "You're a devil! A blackhearted fiend that the world is better without."

"If that's how it is, then I openly challenge you to try and make a 'better' world." Long said, "This is going to be a long Game… and hopefully exciting one. Heh heh. With that being said… good bye. We will meet again." Still keeping his arrogant smirk, Long surrounded himself with golden fog and vanished along with Kiros.

'Yeah, and don't think you'll laugh in the end, brat…!' However, Kiros was still angered on Long's attitude.

"Game? That's my line." Abare Killer stated once they vanished, "Very well. I'll craft a game that involves your suffering while I laugh at it… if that's what you want."

"We can… no we will win this." Red Mask solemnly swore as everyone knew the current battle was over.

* * *

As the situation was more cleared out, back in Bonds, Takeru was sitting together with Momoko.

"Look here, Momoko, how many times have I said it?" Takeru said, "It's not your fault."

"I know, Takeru. It's just that… for me to have that one emotion of being angry at being left behind…" Momoko said, knowing that she still held that one anguish for being left behind that it was exploited by Long, it still gave her a tremendous guilt, "If I was calmer, I wouldn't fall for his mind assault. I thought the rest of the Maskman dead…"

"No, it's just Long messing with your mind." Takeru stated, "Don't worry, it's all lies. I knew you felt guilty, but I forgive that. You just need to learn to forgive yourself."

"Yes…" Momoko nodded, as she looked around, "This is quite the mess you've gotten yourself into."

"Yeah, hard to believe, right?" Takeru said in a more relaxed tone. At least things have settled down a little.

"A bit, I guess." Momoko nodded, "But so long as I have my friend here, I think I can take any other unbelievable things. Not that we also did unbelievable things during our fight against Tube, right?"

"So…" Just then Takeru noticed. This might be an anomaly within the Seven Colors prophecy. What if one color, in this case, Pink, had more numbers than the rest? For that he had to find out how… but one thing was clear to him, he's a man of his words. If he said he'll never let go of Momoko after all that, then prophecies that had him to let her go can just kiss his behind. "How did you end up here in the first place?"

"Ah, that!" Momoko stated further, "I was waiting for you along with Commander Sugata to return. Kenta, Akira and Haruka said they had troubles to arrive so they could be late, but they were willing to come. It's just that afterwards, I stumbled upon seven people… fine warriors. There was another Tube remnant so we took care of that together and then those seven… left. To another world, which I think could be this one."

'Huh? Seven people? Maybe…' Takeru thought, thinking that somewhere out there, there could be another team like this one, "Yeah. I hope we can meet these seven too."

'Perhaps that other Takeru was amongst those seven…'

"After we parted ways… there were suddenly golden fog that surrounded me and I fell unconscious." Momoko at that point started to shudder, "That was actually Long. And he… with my mind…" It was such a horrible experience that even remembering it was painful to her mind.

"Okay, you don't need to tell in detail." Catching on, Takeru stated, "I know. That's why I can't forgive Long for it. And that's why… just try to stay here, okay? I'll take care of the details."

"As much as I wish we could go back together, I guess it's not an available option." Momoko added, "I hope Haruka and the rest would forgive the two of us for being away stuck in another world."

"Yeah… and I hope Kenta and Akira do not get the wrong idea with this…" Already knowing those two, Takeru only hoped that when they return, they did not get teased for something that he wouldn't think of.

And eventually, the door opened and Nanami along with the other Super Sentai entered. "Hey, feeling better, Momoko?" Nanami cheerfully asked.

"Yeah… I guess." Momoko nodded. "Thank you."

"Hey, you kinda knew each other, huh?" Takeru asked.

"Well, uh, I'm gonna explain it soon." Nanami said, "But still I do want to give you this…" She then handed down parts of a broken pendant. "I'm not sure, but… my gut feeling said that you'll find this useful."

For the moment, Takeru's eyes started to glow red, coordinating with the pendant. "Takeru? !" Momoko, still didn't know about how the world worked, was worried as she got up from her seat and tried approaching him.

"Don't worry, Miss Momoko." Chisato assured her, "It's probably that thing. One step closer to return to our worlds." Shortly after, Takeru's eyes returned to normal, and he smiled as he nodded to the rest. "See?"

"Really? I got a lot to catch up…" Momoko said, sighing in relief, "Takeru must've told you guys about me. Yes, I am Momoko… but please, next time, cut the 'Miss'."

"Okay then, Momoko!" Chisato said, "I'm Jougasaki Chisato. Nice to meet you."

One by one, they began introducing themselves, after Chisato it was Hoji. "I'm Tomasu Hoji. Well met."

"My name is Mei. It's always a pleasure to meet you."

"_I'm Jiraiya._"

"Nakadai Mikoto here. Yo."

"I'm Mele…" For the last one, Momoko did feel about the aura of evil emitted by Mele's Rinki. It made her look wary. "What's with that look?" Mele asked.

"No it's just that, there were some evil within you…" Momoko said bluntly, before speaking further, "But please, don't get me wrong. You're also possessing a lot of good within you, and it could very well be surpassing those evil and become your new source of strength… You fought well."

'What the hell have I gotten myself into? My goodness overwhelming my evil?' Mele thought, 'Rio-sama… what do I do?'

"Okay, so I guess the introduction is over!" Nanami stated, "Now, I guess it's time I give you my report."

"Report? You mean…" Mei asked.

"Sometimes ninjas do that." Takeru explained, based on his experience with another ninja he had in the Maskman team, "They pretend they get captured, but in truth, they're gathering information."

"Bingo! So, okay, let me begin." Nanami coughed a bit and started her report.

"Yeah, so in actuality, I pretended to get captured by Long's team. But while I'm there, I just broke away from the prison and snuck here and there. It was quite a difficult and advanced jutsu to make up a convincing dummy, but… well, I did. Regardless, I snuck and found out some weakness about Kyoukinger, and how they planned to have me absorbed. After I knew how it goes, I was able to come up with how I should pretend I'm brainwashed. Yeah, being electrocuted was a little harsh, but once you know how to counter the brainwashing, it's all just about mind focusing."

"Okay, so I guess that's how you counter the brainwashing and make a perfect act." Hoji concluded, "Still, anything else?"

"Well aside of finding out what they did to Momoko, I kinda… conversed with her and telling her my plans and all…" Nanami said, until it was interrupted.

"Wait, do you really take Long as such a big idiot?" Mele was the one interrupted, "How come he didn't get Momoko to tell him that you're working behind his back?"

"Well, I guess he blundered… and it was part of my fault too." Momoko stated, "All that was given to me was that I want to 'take revenge' on Takeru, and not exactly bound to anything else, like turning into his unquestioningly loyal servant. So in a way… half-brainwashed, half-moving on my own will. The latter one was still making me feel horrible…"

"Now now, I told you that you'll get over it." Takeru assured her before turning towards Nanami, "So.. anything else?"

"It seems that Long has been planning to topple another great immortal and gain its power." Nanami revealed, "I kinda forgot the name, but I think it has something to do with dragons… and it starts with 'Da' or something…"

'Da… hmm…' Even Mikoto was confused as he probably hadn't heard of such thing, not even the Bakuryuus he found and learnt in the Dino Earth.

"And for that, he required the blood and soul of three dark ladies…" Nanami continued, "And I think he already found one… by killing my old enemy Wendinu…"

"Wait… if that was the case…" Mei stated further, "Then Long is only one step closer! He's killed Shizuka as well before…"

"_Oh my God_. Then we have to act fast!" Jiraiya exclaimed, knowing the danger.

"I know. And… one more thing." Nanami said, turning towards Mikoto, "Mikoto, right? About your lover turned into a servant of Long…"

"About Lijewel? !" Mikoto suddenly got more enthusiastic, "What about her, any way to free her instant?"

"Not exactly instantly, but I think whenever I show my body on her even as Sapphire Kanja…" Nanami recalled, "She feels a little uneasy. I just think it's because she was aware of my teamwork with the Abarangers against you. So… know what I'm getting at? You're going to bring in many things of her memories with you, and rekindle it. They're not completely erased by Long, you still got a chance."

"Hmph… that's a very good proposition. I'll see what I can do." Mikoto said, smirking, "Still, why tell me this? I thought…"

"Hey, what's past is past, okay?" Nanami assured him, "I've seen that you've developed into more than just 'a jerk trying to play an exciting game at cost of human lives'. You're worthy as an Abaranger… a Super Sentai. Like how you protected me from that attack from the Kyoukinger."

"I told you my body just moved by itself…" Mikoto said, "But whatever, think how you like it... Also... You're the one that sent that letter telling about how Momoko was mentally assaulted, right?"

"Yep!" Nanami answered as she nodded and smiled.

"You sneaky little girl." Mikoto teased, "Great going, though."

"And that's all I have to report." Nanami said, "Make use of it good, okay? I'm going."

"Wait, hold up… where are you going?" Takeru said, "You're not…"

"Hey, I'd love to. But…" Nanami said, already made up her mind, "I think it just fits better if I'm helping from the shadows. 'Unknown to people, unknown to the people, striking evil from the shadows'. That is the motto of Hurricaneger and Hayate School."

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense. Such is the life of a ninja." Jiraiya stated, "If I wasn't chosen by Hiroaki and was in Nanami's shoes, I'd do the same."

"In that case… Thank you for everything, Nanami." Takeru said as he got up and shook hands with Nanami, "We'll make good use of your information."

"Same here. Good luck with Long!" Nanami said as she stepped to the door heading to the teleporter, but turned behind for one last time, "Just call me when you need help! Until then, _Say-Bye-Bye!"_

"See you!" Everyone was waving good bye to Nanami as she left. And eventually, the attention shifted back to Momoko.

"So… I guess I'll be staying with you guys here." Momoko said, "I'm… looking forward to fighting along with you guys."

"You're very welcome." Hoji said, as the rest nodded, "Takeru trusts you, so we trust you."

"Thank you…" Momoko said, but all of the sudden, Mei and Chisato approached her, "Um…"

"So, Momoko! What's between you and Takeru?"

"What's your hobby, I wonder?"

"Um… well, one by one, okay?"

Looking at how Momoko was quickly adapting to his new friends, Takeru took a relieved breath. The fight may be longer and a new Maskman has joined the team, but the prophecy has found itself an anomaly. Whether it would block their advance, the Super Sentai will always stay strong in preventing evil from succeed. Don't lose spirit and good luck, Super Sentai!

* * *

As Nanami eventually exited the Bonds, she was walking around the street, thinking on what to do next, on how to help the team from the shadows. 'Perhaps I should find information about that thing Long was planning. The one I got from the base doesn't seem to be enough…'

She entered a cafeteria, and then approached a woman wearing a pink suit. "Sorry I kept you." Nanami said as she took a seat.

"It's all right." The woman said, "So… did that thing worked?"

"Yeah. If it wasn't for that, I could've lost my mind, and not being able to retrieve the information for them." Nanami answered.

"Good. We'll have to do our best as well." The woman stated, "Or he may end up unstoppable. You're ready, right, Nanami?"

"Ready as you are… Sakura."

* * *

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Author's note: And just like that, the arc ended with Momoko joining the team, like Mako. How this will affect the team is yet to be known, but let's hope it's for the best.

And it turned out that most of them are Nanami's plan, and she's working alongside Sakura to make it happen. And Long's plan is kind of reveled that he's aiming to topple another immortal. Yeah, you can guess which immortal based on the hints.

Unfortunately, I probably would take a small break, trying to come up with ideas on how the next chapters (both) will be. Please be patient and keep watching this out! And check my poll in my profile page too (and vote)! Until next time!


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